20 certain limitations are developed. It is essential to stress that an older person will not necessarily have a disability because they reach a specific stage of their life; however, social security plays a fundamental role – owing to the wide range of services that it includes – for a certain group of individuals, such as older persons. 65. Another kind of negative result of excessive delay in the execution of judgments recognizing the right to social security concerns the feelings of anguish. Although this was not alleged by either the Inter-American Commission or the victim’s representatives, the InterAmerican Court determined that this type of effect goes beyond the purely material aspect. For this reason, the Inter-American Court included the right to personal integrity (Art. 5 of the American Convention) and the right to dignity (a right derived from a broad interpretation of Article 11 of the Pact of San José) using the iura novit curia principle. 66. Thus, as the judgment concludes, “”[t]he failure to implement the right to social security for more than 27 years seriously prejudiced the quality of life and the health care coverage of Mr. Muelle, an individual in a situation requiring special protection because he was an older person with a disability. The violation resulting from the failure to pay his pension exceeded a reasonable time and, as this was the victim’s only income, the prolonged absence of the payments inevitably resulted in financial hardship that affected his ability to pay for his basic necessities and, consequently, affected his mental and moral integrity, as well as his dignity.”105 67. The Muelle Flores case reveals that the confluence of different factors of vulnerability – that have traditionally been identified by the Inter-American Court in cases of discrimination against women106— may also apply in situations that do not involve sex/gender. In the instant case, “age” and “a hearing disability” represent multiple forms of vulnerability in the life of Mr. Muelle Flores and had important consequences, taking into account the failure to execute the domestic judgments that had recognized the right to social security. 68. All these elements that permeate the judgment of the Inter-American Court have special relevance for a social group that, for many years, was not protected by the main international human rights instruments. Furthermore, it is no coincidence that the precedents concerning older persons correspond to rights of a social nature because, in many cases it is this vulnerable group – frequently characterized by poverty, marginalization and exclusion – who are denied their basic rights. Hence, “it is necessary to advance along the path of equality and build welfare States for the entire population, in which social protection is an effective right.”107 Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor Poisot Judge Cf. Case of Muelle Flores v. Peru. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of March 6, 2019. Series C No. 375, para. 207 105 Among others: Case of Gonzales Lluy et al. v. Ecuador. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of September 1, 2015. Series C No. 298; and Case of Cuscul Pivaral et al. v. Guatemala. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of August 23, 2018. Series C No. 359. 106 Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)), Social Panorama of Latin America, 2018 LC/PUB.2019/3-P, Santiago, 2019, p. 14. 107