“This number is alarming,” says Ataman
Racism is the most common reason for reported discrimination
Most cases of discrimination reported to the federal government have a racist background. This emerges from the annual report of the new anti-discrimination officer Ferda Ataman. “Discrimination divides society, not those who address it,” said Ataman.
The number of reported forms of discrimination is stagnating at a record level in Germany. The federal anti-discrimination agency received more than 5,600 inquiries last year. Racism causes the most problems.
DThe Federal Government’s new Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, Ferda Ataman, presented her authority’s annual report for 2021 in Berlin on Tuesday. The number of cases of discrimination reported remained at a high level last year with a total of 5617 inquiries, which is the second highest value since the anti-discrimination agency was founded in 2006.
“This number is alarming. But it also shows that more and more people are not accepting discrimination and are looking for help,” said Ataman, who has only held the post since July.
Compared to the previous year, when the anti-discrimination agency recorded 6,383 cases, the reports fell by a good twelve percent. However, this decline is due to fewer inquiries in connection with the corona pandemic, in particular about the obligation to wear masks.
According to Ataman, last year, with 2,080 cases, the most inquiries were about racial discrimination (that’s 37 percent), the second most (around 1,800) had disability and chronic diseases on the subject (32 percent). Discrimination based on gender (20 percent) and age (10 percent) followed.
Discrimination occurs most frequently in working life and access to private goods such as rented accommodation and services.
Ataman: “Unfortunately, discrimination is part of everyday life in Germany”
According to a representative survey, 13 million people in Germany have experienced discrimination in the past five years – that is every sixth person. Ataman’s conclusion: “Unfortunately, discrimination is part of everyday life in Germany.” She also made it clear: “Discrimination divides society, not those who speak to it.”
Atman criticized that the topic of (anti-)discrimination in political debates is often dismissed as identity politics. It is about the legal right to equality and freedom, enabling free access to work, housing and shops, which unfortunately is often not the case.
In her view, too, it is important to recognize the problem: “We need a broad alliance, anti-discrimination policy needs allies.” Ataman named three planned priorities for her term of office:
1. Better protection against discrimination: “We urgently need a more comprehensive reform of the anti-discrimination law.”
2. More support and education: “People are left alone and have to pay court costs themselves. We need more advice centers, nationwide.”
3. More education: “A third does not know that discrimination is prohibited in Germany.”
At the beginning of July, the publicist Ataman (42) was elected the new anti-discrimination officer by the Bundestag with a narrow majority. However, there were reservations about them in the ranks of the traffic light coalition, especially among the FDP. Before her election, she worked in the Ministry for Family and Integration in North Rhine-Westphalia, among other things, and set up the Mediendienst Integration, a scientific internet platform for journalists.
Ataman had repeatedly caused discussions, for example when she defended the term “potato” for Germans without a migration background in a column. She also deleted previous tweets that her critics had classified as polemical.