Discrimination/Unequal treatment

In legal terms, discrimination occurs when people are treated unfairly – for example, because of their ethnic origin, gender, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation.

Discrimination can occur both intentionally and unconsciously. It is often based on prejudices or societal notions of what is considered ‘normal’. A distinction is made between direct discrimination – for example, when someone is not invited to a job interview because of their name – and indirect discrimination, which is more difficult to recognise. The latter occurs, for example, when seemingly neutral requirements such as ‘accent-free German’ are specified, even though they are not at all necessary for the job.

Often, several grounds for discrimination interact – such as ethnic origin, religion and gender. This so-called multiple discrimination can further exacerbate the disadvantage faced, for example in the case of a Muslim woman with a non-German name (Press Office of the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, 2025).