Age Discrimination: A Normative Gap in International Human Rights Law
Age Discrimination: A Normative Gap in International Human Rights Law

Summary/Abstract: Population ageing is one of humanity’s greatest achievements - and also one of our greatest challenges. Older men and, due to the feminization of ageing, older women to a greater extent, face specific problems including reduced access to job opportunities, increased dependency, declining capacities, poverty, abuse, and harmful traditional practices. Older persons constitute a vulnerable group of society requiring special measures of protection. Nevertheless, beyond the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of age, existing human rights mechanisms rarely address the specific concerns of the elderly. Even so, old age-related standards are scattered throughout various international human rights treaties. This paper argues that a treaty dedicated to the rights of older persons, a systematic and comprehensive articulation of how human rights apply to older people, would enhance visibility and would contribute to a greater awareness of age-related issues. A specific convention on older persons would foster a paradigm shift from older people being considered as no more than the recipients of welfare to rights holders with responsibilities. Nonetheless, filling in the normative gap cannot in itself be a substitute for political will and real determination on the part of individual States. A treaty is only as good as those States willing to comply with it.

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