Having the impression of being put in a box and not benefiting from the same opportunities as the others: an injury felt by more and more French people, according to the survey Trajectories and Origins of INED and INSEE, conducted from July 2019 to November 2020 and made public on Tuesday. According to this, 19% of 18-49 year olds say they have suffered “unequal treatment or discrimination”, whereas they were only 14% in 2008-2009.
An increase that can be explained by different causes, explains Sylvie Le Minez, head of the demographic and social studies unit at INSEE: “We can hypothesize an increase in unfavorable treatment suffered by certain people, but also of a greater sensitivity of citizens to the question of discrimination”. Jean-François Amadieu, sociologist and president of the Discrimination Observatory, leans more towards this second track: “The study concerns people aged 18 to 49, who belong to generations particularly sensitive to the question of inequalities in our society. This makes them, in fact, more receptive to the discriminations they themselves suffer”.
46% of women believe they have been discriminated against because of their gender
Unsurprisingly, origin is cited as the first reason for discrimination, followed by sex and age by the age group questioned. But men and women do not mention the same exclusion factor at the top of the list. For women, the sexist ground has become the main cause of discrimination. And they are much more likely to confide in having suffered from it than ten years earlier: 46% of them believe they have been discriminated against because of their gender, compared to 28% in 2008-2009. A consequence of the #MeToo movement launched in 2017, According to Jean-François Amadieu: “Certainly, it was initially a question of freeing women to speak about rape and sexual assault, but the movement gave rise to other awareness concerning the inequality salary, career differences between men and women. The latter know their rights better and feel more able to recognize that they do not always benefit from the same advantages as their colleagues”.
The feeling of being discriminated against increases a little for men, but in a more limited way (16% against 13% ten years earlier). Origin and skin color remain the main reason for perceived discrimination (in 58% of cases). People from overseas are those who report the most discrimination of this type (27%).
Initiating proceedings following discrimination remains rare
Another observation: religious discrimination has increased over the past ten years: 11% of people declaring themselves to be Muslim report religious discrimination, compared to 5% ten years ago. This reason is much more salient for immigrants from the Maghreb, Turkey and the Middle East. “The terrorist context and the weight of public debate on secularism have led to tension around Islam,” explains Patrick Simon, research director at INED.
One constant remains: the low propensity to defend themselves among victims of this type of treatment. Thus, reactions to discrimination consist of being indignant and contesting (38% of cases) or talking about it to relatives (46%). Only 7% of people who said they had been discriminated against took action with an association, a union or the Defender of Rights, and 2% lodged a complaint. “Fatalism prevails. Because many victims consider that it is useless to report what they have experienced because they believe that the current landscape is not encouraging to change the situation, ”says Patrick Simon.