Intersectionality

Intersectionality (from the English ‘intersection’) refers to a concept in sociology that examines how social characteristics such as gender, age, ethnic background, disability, sexual orientation, physical appearance or worldview interact with one another. It highlights that discrimination need not be attributable to a single characteristic alone: the overlap of several characteristics can create specific forms of disadvantage that differ qualitatively from discrimination based on just one characteristic.

In practice, this means that characteristics can reinforce one another or come into play together in a particular situation. For example, a woman* in a wheelchair might be rejected for a job not just because of her gender or her disability, but precisely because of the combination of both factors. A man* in a wheelchair is highly likely to have a different experience in the same situation.