Grounds for Discrimination

Example: A woman earns less than her male colleague for the same job.

Discrimination against people in connection with gender is a form of sexist discrimination. The gender is used by the majority male population to define women and transgender people as "not belonging". The consequence is the exclusion of women and trans people from rights and resources of which they are entitled to.

The concrete effects of discrimination against people in connection with gender can be seen in the labor market, when looking for housing, in access to goods and services, in participation in economic and political power.

Further examples:

A woman wants to become a diver with the fire department. There is a male-reading list of criteria that would not stand up to scientific scrutiny (e.g., lung volume), which would certainly entitle women to practice such a job.

A man is a trained kindergarten teacher and is applying for a position in a kindergarten that has so far been run exclusively by women. Either he will now be rejected because of his gender, or he could be confronted with prejudice, because of which he - as a man - would have to provide a reference of good character.

Example: A dark-skinned man is denied entry to a disco because of the color of his skin.

Disadvantaging people in connection with skin color is a form of racial discrimination. Skin color is used by the "majority white population" to define "non-white" people as "foreign" and "not belonging". As a result, these people are deprived of rights and resources. The concrete effects of discrimination against people in connection with the color of their skin can be seen in the labor market, when looking for housing, in access to goods and services, and in participation in economic and political power.

Further examples:

An HTL graduate with dark skin applies to a leasing company for a job as a software developer. The company keeps on record the woman's data and sends the applicant jobs as an assistant in the cleaning department on an ongoing basis.

Example: A woman who wants to take out a car insurance is told that she must pay a higher premium because she is not of Austrian origin.

Disadvantaging people in connection with their ethnic origin or affiliation is racial discrimination. The "native" majority population uses the actual or supposed "non-native" ethnicity of people to define these people as "foreign" and "not belonging". As a result, these people are deprived of rights and resources.

Ethnie has replaced the term "Rasse" in German, which was previously used in this context, since it was recognized that the term "Race" was scientifically incorrect and therefore useless when used to distinguish groups of people. For its part, the term "ethnicity" is closely related to the term "culture", since ethnic groups are ultimately constituted by the supposed or actual cultural similarities of their members.

The concrete effects of discrimination against people in connection with ethnicity can be seen in the labor market, when looking for housing, in access to goods and services, in participation in economic and political power.

Example: An apartment is not rented to a married couple from Turkey because the landlord assumes that the couple will often have too many people in the apartment as guests due to their "culture".

Example: Children from socially disadvantaged families are grouped together in a separate class (so-called rest class).

Disadvantaging people in connection with their social background is classistic discrimination. The wealthy middle and upper classes use the actual or supposed belonging of people to the non-wealthy middle and lower classes to define them as "poor" and "not belonging". As a result, these people are deprived of rights and resources.

The concrete effects of discrimination against people in connection with their social background can be seen in the labor market, when looking for housing, in access to goods and services, and in participation in economic and political power.

Another example: In a course for adult jobseekers, a long-term unemployed man with a secondary school diploma and experience as a metalworker receives a lower level of support from the course leader than an unemployed woman with an academic degree and experience as a social worker.

Example: A genetic test is required during an interview. This shows that the applicant has a higher predisposition of developing cancer, so the employer because of that decides to not hire that particular person.

The genetic trait could play a role, especially in connection with future gene diagnostics, since the use of genetic data could be used for prediction purposes and thus result in possible disadvantages for "those who are not yet ill" with "bad genes" on the labor market or in insurance contributions could.

Example: A mother speaks Arabic to her child for which she is verbally abused and insulted.

Disadvantaging people in connection with language is racial discrimination. The "native" majority population, whose first language is German, uses the fact that people are learning German as a second language to define these people as "foreign" and "not belonging". The consequence is the exclusion of these people from rights and resources.

The concrete effects of discrimination against people in connection with the language can be seen in the labor market, when looking for housing, in access to goods and services, in the participation in economic and political power.

Disadvantaging people in connection with language is also a form of classistic discrimination. The "well educated" majority of the population, whose everyday language is elaborate German, uses the fact that people speak less elaborate German to define these people as "uneducated" and "not belonging". As a result, these people are deprived of rights and resources.

Another example: In a job advertisement, "perfect German" is required as an admission criterion.

Regardless of the applicant's actual knowledge of German, such wording primarily discourages applicants who do not speak German as their first language and are therefore in a worse position than applicants who speak German as their first language.

Example: A doctor with a Muslim headscarf is promised a job during an interview in a sanatorium only if she is willing to take off her headscarf when working with patients.

In Austria, discrimination against people in connection with religion is largely Islamophobic or racial discrimination. The Christian-Catholic majority of the population uses the affiliation of people to a non-Christian-Catholic religion to define these people as "foreign" and "not belonging". As a result, these people are deprived of rights and resources.

The concrete effects of discrimination against people in connection with religion can be seen on the job market, when looking for housing, when accessing goods and services, and in the participation in economic and political power.

Another example:

A woman with a headscarf wants to become a math teacher and is labeled as unsuitable for the majority of Christian pupils because of her headscarf (which she wears in connection with her religious beliefs). This could be an issue of lack of religious education. This is discrimination based on gender in connection with religion.

Example: A person advocates another economic system, demonstrates for it and/or expresses herself in the media. As a result, her employer fired her.

While all religious worldviews fall under the term "religion", the term "worldview" includes all non-religious worldviews, non-religious worldviews that see themselves as a guiding concept of life and the world as a whole.

Example: A person is rejected in an application due to their political views.

Example: Pupils from a nationally recognized minority are denied mother tongue instruction.

Disadvantaging people in connection with belonging to a national minority is racial discrimination. The fact that people belong to a national minority is used by the national majority population to define these people as "foreign" and "not belonging". As a result, these people are deprived of rights and resources.

The concrete effects of discrimination against people in connection with belonging to a national minority can be seen in the labor market, when looking for housing, in access to goods and services, and in participation in economic and political power.

National minorities (recognized ethnic groups) in Austria are Slovenes, Burgenland Croats, Hungarians, Roma and Sinti, Viennese Czechs, Viennese Slovaks.

Another example: Roma are more often invited to participate in the folklore supporting program of a conference than to speak at the conference itself.

Example: A child of socially disadvantaged parents does not receive the same level of support from teachers at school as a child of wealthy parents because the teachers assume that the child has no prospects worthy of support.

Disadvantaging people in connection with wealth is classistic discrimination. The "wealthy" majority of the population uses the actual or supposed non-existence of people's wealth to define these people as "poor" and "not belonging". As a result, these people are deprived of rights and resources.

Example: Disadvantaging people in connection with birth is also a form of racial discrimination. The fact that people were not born in Austria is used by the majority of the population born in Austria to define them as "foreign" and "not belonging".

Disadvantaging people in connection with birth is also a form of classistic discrimination. The fact that people were born out of wedlock or adopted is used by the legitimately born, non-adopted majority population to define them as "illegitimate" and "not belonging".

The concrete effects of discrimination against people in connection with birth can be seen in the labor market, when looking for housing, in access to goods and services, and in participation in economic and political power.

Example: A blind person has to pass one or more language tests in order to be accepted into the civil service.

All physical, mental, psychological, and sensory disabilities are covered by the prohibition of discrimination. The disability does not have to be of a particular severity.

Further examples: A male person in a wheelchair has access to his own toilet only through a women's toilet.

A person is in a wheelchair when applying for a desk job, is rejected because of his disability.

A mentally challenged child is denied communion in a church.

Children with a disability are denied access to integration classes.

Example: A person is fired because of their age.

Age discrimination against people is a form of social and economic discrimination. Although, it can target any age group, it usually affects people above or below a certain age.

Age discrimination includes labeling i.e.: assigning an individual to an age group, stereotyping i.e.: negatively evaluating an age group and other age group discrimination.

Another example: A student does not receive the student grant because she is over 30 years old.

Example: A homosexual man cannot become a priest.

Two homosexual men want to rent an apartment and are turned down.

Eu countries and the Council of Europe are falling behind in the area of acknowledging same-sex marriages, while also giving advantage heterosexual partners when applying to adopt a child.

Even in working life, people are not yet able to openly talk about their sexual identity without fear, because in many places they still must be cautious of the possibility of being bullied by their colleagues or being fired by their employer.

Where homosexuals are tolerated, festivities are addressed, which are mainly linked to the adjective "shrill" (meaning something flashy in a vulgar way) which is a derogatory to distinguish the heteronorm that is not considered to be shrill. Where the role of homosexuals becomes political, discrimination (regarding marriage rights, adoption rights, etc.) becomes visible in its whole severity. Within the European Union and one of its highest jurisdictions, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), it is clearly stated and can be seen that sexual orientation and sexual identity cannot be a reason for not granting every person the same rights as a heterosexual. The Yogyakarta Principles (2006), which support exactly this argument, should also be mentioned in connection to this issue.