To protect vegans from discrimination, lawyers often have to fit ethical veganism into existing legal categories such as ‘creed’ or ‘freedom of conscience’. In Ontario, Canada, the Human Rights Code prevents discrimination based on creed in employment, housing, and services. Historically, this meant religion, but modern guidance now includes secular belief systems. Whether it is a firefighter in Ontario or a child and their family in a Danish daycare, the right to live compassionately and free from animal exploitation is a principle worth defending across jurisdictions.
ICARE: ICARE’s fifth seminar on ‘Litigating and Legislating for Animal Rights‘, shifted the focus from the protection of animals as such to an emerging legal frontier: the rights of vegans seeking to live free from animal exploitation. It might seem like a detour, but protecting vegan rights is actually a ‘natural extension’ of animal protection. By removing the barriers that make it difficult to be vegan in a non-vegan world, we normalise plant-based living. As Berit Ertmann from the Vegetarian Society of Denmark noted, when vegan options become the default in schools or hospitals, more people choose them, which can reduce the demand for animal products and, in turn, help reduce the number of animals used in food production…
Dr Anna Caramuru P. Aubert was joined by Camille Labchuk, Executive Director of Animal Justice in Canada, and Berit Ertmann, Chief Communications Officer at the Vegetarian Society of Denmark, to discuss the ‘nuts and bolts’ of recent cases that are redefining how the law views ethical veganism. Their insights from the frontlines of Canadian and Danish courts offer a roadmap for advocates everywhere…
To protect vegans from discrimination, lawyers often have to fit ethical veganism into existing legal categories such as ‘creed’ or ‘freedom of conscience’. In Ontario, Canada, the Human Rights Code prevents discrimination based on creed in employment, housing, and services. Historically, this meant religion, but modern guidance now includes secular belief systems…
Vegan rights litigation is also about protecting those who defend animals: ensuring that animal advocates are not subjected to discrimination or exclusion for living in accordance with their ethical commitments. Whether it is a firefighter in Ontario or a child and their family in a Danish daycare, the right to live compassionately and free from animal exploitation is a principle worth defending across jurisdictions. SOURCE
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