Discrimination

Discrimination, unfavourable treatment on grounds of characteristics such as sex, race, religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation. The underlying premise is that unfavourable treatment is unfair because those characteristics are unrelated to a person’s abilities or value as a human being. The counter-argument is that certain groups are inferior in some significant way and therefore treating them unfavourably is not unfair. (See also Ageism; Discrimination Against Disabled People; Racial Discrimination; Sex Discrimination Laws)

Discrimination can be direct or indirect, active or passive, cultural, institutional, or personal. Examples of direct discrimination include the former apartheid system in South Africa, or roles within religious institutions from which women are explicitly barred. Indirect discrimination means that although criteria for access appear neutral, their effect disproportionately disadvantages a particular group. For example, part-time workers in the United Kingdom were not entitled to full employment benefits until this was shown indirectly to discriminate against women (the vast majority of part-time workers).

Often the attitudes and actions of people who discriminate are based on lack of awareness rather than an intention to exclude a particular group. Prejudice can be so culturally embedded that those who are part of that culture never notice it. When discrimination becomes embedded into the culture and operations of an institution, this gives rise to “institutional discrimination”. For example, the Macpherson Report (1999) into the investigation of the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence concluded that the Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist. Rather than any one person discriminating, it was the institution that was at fault.

Whatever the obvious differences between sexism, racism, discrimination against disabled people, ageism, and homophobia, discrimination results in inequality and exclusion. It restricts access to employment, goods, or services so that people who experience discrimination are more likely to be in poverty and to have lower employment rates. At worst, it can mean being denied basic civil liberties like freedom of movement, or autonomy.

Rights have long been seen as the main way to stop discrimination. Many countries have anti-discrimination legislation, and some incorporate anti-discrimination principles into their constitutions. But they also operate border controls and limit the rights of foreigners within their borders.

Action has also been taken at international level. The United Nations (UN) has created a comprehensive body of human rights law. Its foundations lie in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted 1948). Since then there have been more than 80 UN covenants and declarations on rights. These set specific standards for the treatment of women, children, disabled people, minorities, migrant workers, and others. The UN has also established mechanisms to promote and protect rights and to assist governments to carry out their responsibilities.

In 2000, the European Community introduced a Racial Equality Directive and an Employment Equality Directive. These provide a common minimum level of protection against discrimination. The legislation has its basis in Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997). This gave the European Commission powers to fight discrimination on grounds of sex, race/ethnic origin, religion/belief, disability, age, and sexual orientation.

Apart from rights, strategies to redress or prevent inequalities and exclusion include positive action, which targets resources on disadvantaged groups to help them to build their capacity and compete on a more equal basis. Positive discrimination can mean reserving posts for people from disadvantaged groups, often using quotas. Increasingly, institutions take action to “mainstream equality” from the outset into everything they do. This includes conducting impact assessments of new policy proposals, to identify and remove prior to implementation anything likely to increase inequalities.

In Britain there have been significant recent developments, both in anti-discrimination laws and the institutions charged with overseeing them. The Human Rights Act 1998 gave legal effect to 16 fundamental rights and freedoms contained in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 introduced a public sector duty to promote race equality (see also Race Relations Act). Similar provisions have followed for disability and sex. The duties mean that organizations have to be proactive in preventing inequalities. The Equality Bill introduced in 2005 proposed to make it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of religion or belief in the provision of goods, facilities, and services.

The same bill provides for the disbanding of the separate Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), and Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and the establishment of a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) from Autumn 2007 (the CRE will join later, by March 31, 2009). It will not just cover sex, disability, and race, but also sexual orientation, age, and religion or belief. Alongside, consideration is being given to bringing together into a single equalities act the currently separate anti-discrimination laws for each group.

On the world stage, the “War on Terror” has led to new threats to civil liberties; the Anglican Church risks schism over the appointment of openly gay men to senior roles; and the meeting of the World Trade Organization in Hong Kong (2005) was besieged with protesters calling for an end to discriminatory trading practices against poorer countries. There are many examples of debates about discrimination: what grounds for distribution are fair or unfair, who should or should not be allowed access, and what type of behaviour can or cannot be tolerated.