Ferda Ataman sits at the head of a long, narrow conference room that is well occupied despite Berlin’s parliamentary summer recess. The annual report of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, which is to be presented this Tuesday, is hardly due to the fact that journalists are still sitting far behind. From there Ataman can only be seen quite small in the distance.
It is the new Anti-Discrimination Commissioner herself who is attracting this attention. When the also new Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) proposed the publicist for the office, the excitement was great. ataman? Wasn’t that the chairman of the association that awards the “Golden Potato” for “particularly underground reporting” on living together in Germany, a country of immigration? Isn’t something like that somehow discriminatory – and then anti-discrimination officers, seriously? For example, the wave of indignation swept through the country. In early July, Ataman was elected anyway, 376 members of the Bundestag voted for her, 278 against her, and 14 abstained.
And now she’s sitting in this room at the federal press conference, saying “Welcome” and smiling and holding the orange annual report up to the cameras. It refers to 2021, i.e. “a time before my job,” she says right at the beginning. Now, fresh in office, she obviously doesn’t want to do anything wrong and, to be on the safe side, read her statement first.
The report has two focal points, antiziganism and discrimination advice. The latter leads directly to the fundamental problem associated with the report and the recording of discrimination: the anti-discrimination agency recorded just 5,617 inquiries in 2021. Judging by the fact that people are disadvantaged – because of their age, their origin, their gender, their sexual Orientation or because of a disability – is an everyday phenomenon, this number seems impressively small in a country with more than 80 million inhabitants.
However, the numbers are neither representative nor comprehensive, says Ataman. Nevertheless, they would provide a picture of the most common cases of discrimination. According to this, in 2021 most requests for advice were on racial discrimination, followed by discrimination based on disability. “We can’t put discrimination in numbers,” says Ataman, there are only surveys on personal experiences with discrimination – these in turn allow the conclusion that it is unfortunately part of everyday life in Germany.
The 42-year-old has a lot planned for her tenure. Among other things, she wants to reform the General Equal Treatment Act, which the traffic light government has also undertaken. In addition, Ataman believes that there should be many more advice centers and more information about the fact that one is legally protected from discrimination.
She is then asked whether she is the right person for the position. “I would say yes,” Ataman replies. When it comes to the topic of discrimination, it is important “to put your finger on the wound and address the problems”. She thought the “very detailed discussion” before her election was great “from the point of view of democratic theory”. This is also good for the anti-discrimination agency, which means that it will be noticed more. Her goal now is to direct this attention to the issue of discrimination and the people affected by it.