Why do some groups require special human rights? Does this mean that they have more rights than others?

In the field of human rights, growing attention has been devoted to the rights of persons belonging to specific groups, often called "vulnerable groups". People belonging to these groups have certain common characteristics or are in a situation that have been shown to make these people more vulnerable to discrimination. They are especially "vulnerable", because these grounds for discrimination have been overlooked or insufficiently addressed in general human rights instruments. New instruments are therefore needed to protect and promote the rights of these people, focusing on specific characteristics and situations, such as age, gender, social situation etc. These groups include indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, refugees, migrant workers, women, children, people with HIV/AIDS, persons with disabilities and older persons.

 some groups, such as the Roma in Europe, have suffered such long-term discrimination that they need special measures to enable them to access general human rights standards on an equal basis with others. Years of institutionalized discrimination and stereotypes, and outright hatred and obstacles, mean that just announcing generally applicable rights to them, and expecting that this is enough to ensure equality, would be absurd.