What is discrimination?

Discrimination is the unjustified disadvantaging of a person or a group of people. This can take place on the basis of various characteristics or attributions. For example, in relation to: Ethnic/social/economic affiliation, gender, sexual orientation, language, origin, religion/belief, disability and/or illness, body/appearance, age, family situation, etc.Discrimination can be direct or indirect. Direct discrimination occurs when the characteristic of discrimination is immediately recognizable. For example: a trans* person continues to be addressed with the wrong form of address despite explanatory information. In the case of indirect discrimination, discrimination is not directly recognizable. Example: Part-time employees are excluded from carrying out laboratory tests. These part-time employees are predominantly women. This excludes women from participating in laboratory tests and thus indirectly discriminates against them.

What is multiple discrimination?

If a person is discriminated against on the basis of several characteristics, this is multiple discrimination. Example: An applicant with a disability is structurally disadvantaged on the labor market due to her disability. She is also paid less because of her gender (see gender pay gap). The applicant experiences multiple discrimination due to her disability and gender (at different times).

Intersectional discrimination?

If two or more grounds of discrimination cannot be considered separately, this is intersectional discrimination. Example: A Black student is denied access to a student party for no reason. Here, stereotypical and racist assumptions about the characteristics of age, gender and skin color merge. The student is discriminated against on the basis of the three interacting characteristics.