1. Direct discrimination is treating or relating to a person differently from others in similar circumstances solely based on a personal characteristic of that person. The intent, in this case, is not relevant. Moreover, such discrimination is sometimes justified by considerations of care or safety for the individual. For example, the existence until the fall of 2021 of a list of professions and fields of employment in Kazakhstan that were prohibited to women was justified by concerns about women’s reproductive health.Segregation – when people, united by a common distinctive characteristic (more often, it is race), are intentionally separated from other people, in particular, in providing access to goods, services, establishments, etc.

2. Indirect discrimination – “when a law, policy or practice is formulated or appears to be neutral (without explicit discriminatory definitions), but it disadvantages a certain group or groups of people¹” and “when an opportunity that appears accessible in reality excludes certain persons owing to the fact that their status does not allow them to benefit from the opportunity itself. For example, if a candidate with restricted mobility had a job interview on a second floor office in a building without an elevator, although allowed to sit the interview, the situation puts him/her in an unequal position²”

 ¹Definition provided by Amnesty International

²General comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and non-discrimination, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

3. Denial of reasonable accommodation, is a type of discrimination introduced with the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In practice it constitutes discrimination if the necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments (that do not impose a “disproportionate or undue burden”) are denied and are needed to ensure the equal enjoyment or exercise of a human right or fundamental freedom. Not accepting an accompanying person or refusing to otherwise accommodate a person with a disability are examples of denial of reasonable accommodation³.

4. Harassment is a form of discrimination “when unwanted conduct related to [the feature under protection] takes place with the purpose or effect of violating  and of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. It can happen through actions or words that have the effect of perpetuating the difference and oppression of people⁴”.

Listed above are the main forms of discrimination. In addition to them, some authoritative sources⁵ also identify two additional forms of discrimination:

Segregation – when people, united by a common distinctive characteristic (more often, it is race), are intentionally separated from other people, in particular, in providing access to goods, services, establishments, etc.

Victimization is “any action or inaction that has negative consequences as a result of filing a complaint, presentation to judicial instance of action in order to ensure the application of the provisions of this law or the provision of information, including testimony, which relate to the action or complaint filed by another person⁶”.

³General comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and non-discrimination, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
⁴ General comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and non-discrimination, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
⁵Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation, a joint publication of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Equal Rights Trust, 2023, Geneva
⁶The draft Law “On ensuring the right to equality and protection against discrimination” of the Kyrgyz Republic cited in the Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation, a joint publication of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Equal Rights Trust, 2023, Geneva.