What are discrimination and intolerance?

Discrimination – in all its possible forms and expressions – is one of the most common forms of human rights
violations and abuse. It affects millions of people every day and it is one of the most difficult to recognise.
Discrimination and intolerance are closely related concepts. Intolerance is a lack of respect for practices or beliefs
other than one's own. It also involves the rejection of people whom we perceive as different, for example members of
a social or ethnic group other than ours, or people who are different in political or sexual orientation. Intolerance can
manifest itself in a wide range of actions from avoidance through hate speech to physical injury or even murder.
Discrimination occurs when people are treated less favourably than other people are in a comparable situation only
because they belong, or are perceived to belong to a certain group or category of people. People may be discriminated
against because of their age, disability, ethnicity, origin, political belief, race, religion, sex or gender, sexual
orientation, language, culture and on many other grounds.
Discrimination and intolerance are often based on or justified by prejudice and stereotyping of people and social
groups, consciously or unconsciously; they are an expression of prejudice in practice.
A stereotype is a generalised belief or opinion about a particular group of people. The main function of stereotypes is
to simplify reality. Stereotypes are usually based either on some kind of personal experience or on impressions that we
have acquired during our life.
A prejudice is a judgment, usually negative, we make about another person or other people without really knowing
them. Just like stereotypes, prejudices are learned as part of our socialisation process.
One difference between a stereotype and a prejudice is that when enough information is available about an individual
or a particular situation, we do away with our stereotypes. Prejudice rather works like a screen through which we
perceive any given piece of reality: thus, information alone usually is not enough to get rid of a prejudice, as
prejudices alter our perceptions of reality; we will process information that confirms our prejudice and fail to notice or
"forget" anything that is in opposition.
Forms of intolerance and discrimination
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is a prejudice related to the false notion that people from other countries, groups, cultures, or speaking
other languages are a threat.
Xenophobia is closely related to racism: the more "different" the other is perceived, the stronger the fears and negative
feelings tend to be.
Racism
Racism involves discriminatory or abusive behaviour towards people because of their imagined "inferiority". The
impact of racist ideologies has been devastating to humanity; it has justified slavery, colonialism and annihilations of
peoples. It has been the basis of the Nazi ideologies and of the programmes to exterminate Jews and other "inferior
peoples".
Unfortunately, racism continues to be present in contemporary European societies and politics. Although race is no
longer accepted as a biological category and only few people believe now in "superior races" with an inherent right to
exercise power over those considered "inferior", the impact of racism lingers on and takes on different forms, such as
cultural racism or ethnocentrism, the belief that some cultures, usually their own, are superior or that other cultures,
traditions, customs and histories are incompatible with theirs.
Antisemitism
Antisemitism can be defined as "hostility towards Jews as a religious or minority group often accompanied by social,
economic, and political discrimination"9. Antisemitism has been widespread in European history up to the present.
Discrimination against Roma people: Romaphobia and Antigypsyism
Antigypsyism can be defined as a specific form of racism, an ideology of racial superiority, a form of dehumanisation
and of institutionalised racism applied against Roma people.
Intolerance based on religion
Freedom of religion and religious tolerance are basic values present in every European country, yet acts of
discrimination based on religion have not yet disappeared. Religious intolerance is often linked with racism and
xenophobia – particularly with Antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Discrimination based on gender identity, gender or sexual orientation
Gender-related discrimination includes the discrimination of women as opposed to men (this form is also called
sexism or sex discrimination) and that of transgender or transsexual people, whose gender identity is inconsistent or
not culturally associated with their assigned sex. Discrimination based on sexual orientation affects homosexual and
bisexual people.
Today, discrimination against LGBT people still occurs in all societies in Europe in spite of the fact that many states
have adopted anti-discrimination legislation. 
LGBT people are often denied their human rights, for example the right to work, as they get fired or are discriminated
against by employers because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The right to safety and security of a person
is another which is very often violated when (young) people are bullied at school or harassed in the work place.
Lesbian and gay couples in many countries of Europe feel discriminated in such areas as the right to marry, to
constitute a family or to adopt children.