Discrimination

What Is Discrimination?

Discrimination refers to actions that disadvantage or harm certain individuals or groups of people. Discrimination can have many different causes, and it is not always easy to recognize. There are various forms of discrimination, which are generally covered by the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) and are explained in more detail below.

Direct Discrimination

Direct discrimination occurs when a person is explicitly disadvantaged because of a particular characteristic or personal attribute. For example, when a woman is fired because she is pregnant, or when someone is denied entry to a club because of their skin color.

Indirect Discrimination

Indirect discrimination occurs when a rule appears neutral at first glance but actually disadvantages certain groups. For example, if employees working part-time at a company are not eligible for promotion, this may initially seem like a neutral rule. However, if the majority of part-time employees are women, the rule indirectly disadvantages women.

Institutional Discrimination

Institutional discrimination refers to the disadvantage of certain groups within social structures, such as schools, workplaces, or laws. Those affected are either not taken into account or are disadvantaged. It is important to note that institutional discrimination often occurs unconsciously, which can make it difficult to recognize.

One example would be teachers unconsciously expecting lower performance from students of a particular ethnic background or skin color and consequently giving them lower grades.

Harassment

Harassment refers to behavior that intimidates, insults, or humiliates a person because of one or more characteristics. Bullying is a simple example of this. However, harassment can also be based simply on a personal dislike and does not necessarily have to be related to characteristics such as someone’s background or skin color.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment includes sexual comments and innuendos, staring, physical assaults, and the distribution of pornographic material. Whether the behavior was intentional or not is irrelevant.

Instruction to Discriminate

An instruction to discriminate occurs, as the name suggests, when one person tells another person to discriminate against certain individuals. For example, if a managing director instructs the head of human resources to reject applications from people wearing headscarves or from people of a particular skin color.

Intersectional Discrimination

Intersectional discrimination refers to the interaction of several discrimination factors that influence and reinforce one another.

For example, if a club bouncer encounters a young man who, in the bouncer’s view, looks foreign, the person’s young age, gender, and perceived background could be three factors that interact and lead to him being denied entry.

Another example could be a migrant family with many children and a low income being disadvantaged when looking for housing. Their background, the number of children, and their low income can interact as different factors and result in the family being disadvantaged in the housing market.

Discrimination by Association

Discrimination by association refers to disadvantaging someone because they are closely associated with a person who has a particular characteristic, such as a disability or ethnic background.

For example, a person might be disadvantaged at work because they are closely associated with someone who has a disability.

What Can I Do If I Have Been a Victim of Discrimination?

• Ask other people for help, for example, for emotional support.

• Secure evidence such as screenshots, names, messages, or other relevant information.

• Write down all important information about what happened.

• Contact a counseling service or an anti-discrimination office for support and advice.