SUMMARY:
· Introduction
· General recommendations
· Social exclusion
· Dependent legal status
· Violence
· Obstacles in accessing the labour market
· Lack of visibility
Bibliography
June
2001
I Introduction
Founded
in 1990, the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is an alliance of national and
European non-governmental women’s organisations working to promote
equality between women and men and to ensure that gender equality and
women’s rights are taken into consideration in all European Union
Policies.
The
issue of racism and gender discrimination is a priority in the EWL's work for
2001, as we believe that within the overall fight against racism, there is a
need for targeted and specific measures for women. The UN World Conference
Against Racism (WCR), which will be held in South Africa in September 2001,
gives rise to important discussions and debates, in which the EWL has a key
role to play to ensure that the gender dimension is included in the discussions
and that actions are taken at all levels. It is vital that political leaders
and the NGO community are fully aware of the particular nature of racism faced
by women.
The
aim of this paper is to identify the main forms of racism experienced by women
in the European Union and to formulate recommendations accordingly. The EWL
would like to stress that, even though we all belong to one Human Race, it is
necessary to acknowledge the diversity among people and the resulting
prejudices, discriminations and racism.
Terminology
For the purpose of simplicity, we have chosen to use the
term “Black, ethnic minority and migrant women” throughout this paper. This term refers among
others, to women refugees, asylum seekers, Roma women, women from indigenous
minority ethnic groups, coloured women, newcomers and long-term immigrants.
More generally, it refers to women experiencing multiple discrimination as a
result of the intersection of gender, ethnic origins and/or religion.
As it is widely
recognised that there is no one form, type or definition of "racism"
or "racial discrimination", we will be using the term “racism” in this paper to refer to the broad
definition of "racial discrimination" of the International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination as quoted below [X1].
Article 1.1 of the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of the
United Nations (1965) defines racial discrimination as: “Any distinction,
exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national
or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other
field of public life.”
From a gender perspective, this
definition only partially identifies the specific forms of discrimination
experienced by women, considering that there is an intersection between
discrimination based on the grounds of gender and of ethnic origin or colour, which
results in forms of multiple discrimination. Gender roles and relationships have changed with time
and from one society to another, however the status of women has consistently
been lower than that of men. Women from communities experiencing racism face a
disproportionate level of discrimination as a result of forms of multiple
discrimination: both as a woman in their group, but also as a Black or migrant
person or coming from an ethnic minority and facing institutionalised racism as
a result. “As a physical and
biological trait gender is like race. It is visible and can be a convenient and
obvious way of judging and sorting people”[1].
While
the modern women’s movement raises issues of concern for all women, the
predominant problem for Black, migrant and ethnic minority women is not only
gender discrimination, but also the entire system of racial and ethnic
stratification that defines, stigmatises and controls these groups as a whole. As a result, Black, migrant women or women from ethnic minority groups
face different barriers, limitations and forms of discriminations in society
than men from these groups.
The
Expert Group meeting on Gender and Racial Discrimination (21-24 November 2000,
Zagreb, Croatia)[2] suggested
that a methodology be developed which would analyse in depth the violations
occurring at the intersection of gender and ethnicity. The EWL fully supports
the development of this intersectional approach, which addresses the way
racism, sexism, class oppression, and/or other kinds of discrimination overlap
creating complex intersections.
Commitments
made by the international community
The
governments participating in the Fourth World Conference on Women were
determined to “intensify efforts to ensure equal enjoyment of all human
rights and fundamental freedoms for all women and girls who face multiple
barriers to their empowerment and advancement because of such factors as their
‘race’, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion, or disability,
or because they are indigenous people”.[3]
Furthermore,
the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW 1979) states
that the “eradication of apartheid, all forms of racism, racial
discrimination, colonialism, neo-colonialism, aggression, foreign occupation
and domination and interference in the internal affairs of States is essential
to the full enjoyment of the rights of men and women”[4].
The CEDAW, often considered an international bill of rights for women, thus
recognises the intersection of gender and ethnicity.
Finally,
in the conclusions of the 45th Session of the UN Commission on the
Status of Women (6-16 March 2001), governments acknowledge that “racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance manifest themselves
in a differentiated manner for women, increasing poverty, causing their living
conditions to deteriorate, generating violence, and limiting or denying them
the full enjoyment and exercise of all their human rights”.[5]
It is difficult to ‘categorise’ the different groups of people experiencing racism as many different elements need to be considered. However, racism experienced by women who have recently arrived in the European Union, irrespective of their status, may be more extreme and visible than the racism experienced by Black women and those from ethnic minorities who are EU nationals themselves, which is often the case of immigrants for several generations and groups from former colonies.
For people from former colonies the level of integration tends to
be lower than for people from immigrant groups within the European Union.
People from former colonies have experienced centuries of domination and
exploitation and their visibility and membership of a specific group is a
central reality from which they cannot exempt themselves.
Racism in Europe today also
encompasses xenophobia and social exclusion. ‘It impoverishes and
socially deprives people who experience it’[6].
The kind of racism most commonly faced by Black, ethnic minority and migrant
women, who have recently arrived in one of the EU countries, is closely related to structural
barriers in European society: poverty, social exclusion, insecure legal status,
violence and intimidation, difficulty in accessing the labour market and lack
of visibility.
Marginalisation reinforces racist
stereotypes with the media frequently promoting a negative image of immigrants,
describing them as likely to commit crime, to be a financial burden on the State,
to be linked to drugs or to carry a disease.
In addition, discrimination on the
grounds of religion and ethnicity, such as practices against Jews, Muslims,
Sikhs, Protestants or Catholics, is prevalent in the European Union and must
also be tackled.
Today, despite
shortcoming in statistics and varying definitions of “migrant”, it
is known that at least 50 million women are international migrants, with about
12 million in Europe. Although women constitute over half of the migrants in
Western Europe, their particular needs have often been overlooked in
migration-related programmes[7].
II General
recommendations to the European Union
The creation of real legal
instruments achieved with the integration of the anti-discrimination clause
(Article 13)[8] into the
Treaty of the European Union, and the measures taken to implement it, represent
considerable progress in the fight against racism at European level and as such
must be welcomed. The EWL regrets however that, despite its repeated
recommendations[9], no clear
gender dimension has been integrated into the concrete action measures. Gender
discrimination is of a structural nature affecting half of the population and
not only a minority of people. Women very often face forms of double or
multiple discrimination, as women and, for example, on account of their ethnic
origin, their religion or belief, their disability, their age and/or their
sexual orientation.
The EWL would therefore like to
reiterate the absolute importance of gender mainstreaming in
actions, programmes and policies aimed at combating racism. Other grounds for discrimination should also be taken
into consideration in addressing the problem of racism.
With this document, the EWL makes
some general recommendations to the European Union and its Member States and
calls on them to work in close collaboration with civil society,
non-governmental organisations and representatives of ethnic minority groups in
order to take advantage of their expertise in combating racism and gender
discrimination. These general recommendations are followed by an analysis of
the main barriers faced by Black, ethnic minority and migrant women in the
European Union: social exclusion, precarious legal status, violence, difficulty
in accessing the labour market; lack of visibility - and recommendations directly related to these topics.
General Recommendations
The EWL calls on the EU and its
Member States:
·
to ratify and/or
implement, without reservation, the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the Convention on the Elimination of All forms
of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) and its optional protocol, and the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court of Justice as well
as other relevant international instruments;
· to adopt a comprehensive Plan
of Action for the elimination of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance encouraging States to develop National
Action Plans (NAPs) identifying concrete policies
and programmes at national level and to create a national executive body,
reflecting the diversity of society, responsible for implementing these NAPs;
·
to integrate fully a
gender dimension into
this Plan of Action and the NAPs, and in particular to develop gender-sensitive and gender-specific
guidelines and indicators and use sex-disaggregated data at all levels;
·
to make a commitment
to a review process after a 5 year period following the WCAR, in order to evaluate and make a
critical assessment of the progress made by Governments on the issue of
combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
This revision process should continue to define specific indicators and
benchmarks addressing the gender dimension;
·
to develop a methodology
examining the interaction of ethnicity and gender and identifying forms of multiple discrimination and its
effect on women and girls. This methodology should serve as the basis on which
all legal instruments, policies and programmes aiming at the elimination of
racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance including
anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and all forms of religious intolerance are
designed and implemented;
·
to recognise the role
of civil society, including NGOs
fighting racism and minority ethnic groups, and to strengthen dialogue and
cooperation with them. The EU should involve and consult with NGOs when developing and implementing policies aiming to combat all
forms of racism;
·
to guarantee a robust
legal framework, which both defends
the human rights of all people, women and men, who experience racism, and at
the same time ensures sufficient criminal sanctions for racist behaviour;
·
to endorse the respect,
promotion and celebration of knowledge of different cultures in education, social, cultural and artistic activities.
Within the context of the future
revision of the EU Treaties, the EWL recommends:
·
that the Member
States implement the European Union Directive “Implementing the
principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic
origin”, formally adopted by the
Council on 29 June 2000, and ensure that a gender dimension is mainstreamed
fully in the implementation process;
· that the rights allocated by European citizenship,
namely the right to freedom of movement, to settle, to vote and stand as a
candidate in local elections, should
be extended to third country nationals who have been legally resident in a
Member State for 5 years.;
·
Although the EWL
welcomes Article 21 of the Charter on Fundamental Rights of the European
Union[10], a specific reference to gender mainstreaming should
be introduced into the provision.
III Social
Exclusion
Poverty and social exclusion are
key factors in the racism faced by Black, ethnic minority and migrant women.
Many reasons contribute to this exclusion from society: intimidation,
linguistic and cultural barriers, lack of knowledge of legal and civil rights
and insufficient means to access information, lack of specialised skills, no
recognition of qualifications and consequent over-representation in atypical
work with the informal economy as the only way to make a living.
The
groups that are most severely affected by poverty and social exclusion include
women who are lone parents and their children, women who are victims of
trafficking and other forms of violence, refugee women, Traveller women,
migrant domestic workers, new migrants and undocumented workers.
Furthermore,
as Black, ethnic minority and migrant women are often required to stay at home
to look after young children and/or dependent people, they have an additional
barrier to social integration as they are even more isolated from the rest of
the society in which they live.
Social
exclusion is apparent in the lack of access to basic resources and services in
society (health care, housing, welfare benefits, social protection) and lack of
appropriate services and discrimination in the provision of services in areas
such as health, education and vocational training. Because of the structural
nature of this discrimination, which amounts to institutional racism, it has
long-term effects on the quality of life of such women and tends to be
inherited by second and third generation children. Basically, many ethnic
minority women are caught in “a cycle of poverty and deprivation that
requires an integrated strategy, involving different agencies, to
overcome”[11].
Recommendations
The EWL calls on the EU and its
Member States:
· to take measures to encourage the integration of Black, ethnic
minority and migrant women into the host country,
in particular by providing affordable courses on the language and the culture
of the host country, by setting up support centres which offer free legal
advice and health care, in the
language of the women and by
making good quality and affordable childcare services accessible to Black,
ethnic minority and migrant women.
· to develop culturally sensitive policies and public services which
respond to the needs of a multi-ethnic society;
· to ensure that staff providing public services and counselling are aware
of the particular issues facing Black, ethnic minority and migrant women and
that this staff receives anti-racism training
which includes a gender-sensitive perspective;
· to fund and support community
NGOs, national women’s NGOs, minority ethnic groups
as well as advocacy groups for political actions on the issue.
The
position of women with dependent status can be very unstable due to the lack of
individual rights. As they have joined their husbands under the provision of
family reunion, their legal position and residence permit is totally dependent
on their husband’s status and because of this they have derived rights.
This is a very precarious situation, as it means that in case of separation,
divorce or the death of their husband, they may be expelled with little
opportunity of obtaining individual rights as the legal process could take from
one to four years. The immigration policy of EU Member States is often based on
the stereotypical assumption that migrant women are not autonomous individuals,
but “appendages” of their husbands or fathers and for this reason
their own legal identity is not considered a priority. These women, who are
both socially isolated and financially dependent often have to endure difficult
situations, for example:
· Employment - this is the case of
undocumented workers and migrant women employed as domestic workers who, not
having a legal work permit, cannot benefit from the related social and welfare
protection and are often exploited by their employers;
· Legal barriers - migrant and refugee
women, asylum seekers who wish to extend their work or residence permit have to
overcome considerable obstacles to be granted legal status in the Member
States;
· Domestic violence - all too often women, who
are subjected to domestic violence, remain silent because of their precarious
legal status;
· Trafficking for prostitution –
Many women victims of trafficking are victimised even more on account of their
illegal situation in the country of destination. In addition, the occurrence of
trafficking effects women from those ethnic minority groups closely identified
with trafficking. It is therefore quite usual that women, not in prostitution
and not victims of trafficking, but from these ethnic minorities, are
stigmatised – for example Albanian or Nigerian women in Italy or in
Spain;
Recommendations
The EWL calls on the EU and its
Member States:
· to grant independent legal status and work permits to partners of migrant workers;
· to provide means for undocumented workers to legalise their situation and in doing so recognise their contribution to the economy of Member
States;
· to adopt and implement legislation to protect migrant women employed
as domestic workers from exploitative working
conditions;
·
to ensure that in
all future developments concerning immigration, refugee and asylum policies, the specific concerns of women, including the needs
of all women asylum seekers threatened with persecution, oppression and
violence, are fully recognised.
V Violence
against Black, ethnic minority and migrant women
The issue of violence against women concerns all
women and all men in Europe. However, Black, ethnic minority and migrant women
may be particularly vulnerable as a result of racism and social exclusion. The
intersection of sexism and racism is demonstrated in the sexual stereotyping of
Black, ethnic minority and migrant women. For instance, Black women can be
objectified as sexual beings. As a
consequence of this intersection, Black, ethnic minority and migrant women may
experience particular forms of male violence. This violence can take many
forms:
· Domestic violence, such as battering, psychological violence, verbal and
physical abuse, sexual assault and rape;
· Violence against female migrant domestic workers;
· Female genital mutilation and forced marriages;
· Trafficking in women and related violence including rape, battery and
prostitution.
Due to the hidden nature of the
phenomenon, it is very difficult to collect exact data on the incidence of
violence experienced by women in general, and more specifically by Black,
ethnic minority and migrant women.
This lack of visibility is due, amongst other things, to cultural
barriers, uncertain legal status and in some cases the fact that women are
unable to claim their rights, which in turn prevents them from denouncing these
abuses and defending themselves. The absence of specific organisations and
agencies addressing the particular problems of violence against Black, ethnic
minority and migrant women is another reason for this lack of visibility.
The conditions of women asylum seekers and refugees
should also be stressed. Gender-related violence does not yet constitute a
legitimate ground to seek asylum in the EU Member States.
Some
Jewish women experience violence inside their own families but avoid talking
about it for fear of exposing their community to criticism and condemnation. In
addition, some women live within fundamentalist groups that can occur in every
religion which are presently experiencing a revival that is particularly
oppressive to women.
Recommendations
The EWL calls on the EU and its
Member States:
· to adopt concrete measures
to fight the phenomenon of trafficking in women both by enforcing appropriate
legislation and by developing preventive measures in the countries of origin of
victims of trafficking. In particular governments should ratify, and encourage
non-member States to ratify, and implement the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress
and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organised Crime. They should provide assistance and protection for victims of
trafficking and provide them with legal, medical, psychological and social
services, as specified in the above mentioned UN Convention;
· to define and implement measures to assist and protect women who are
victims of religious extremism;
· to include the specific
issue of violence experienced by Black, ethnic minority and migrant
women in the mainstream training programmes for police and public
authorities;
· to recognise that specific forms of persecution against women (for example, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, honour
killings, being stoned to death for presumed adultery, rape as a weapon of war)
should constitute a legitimate grounds to seek asylum;
· to encourage the compilation of systematic research, studies and
exchange of good practice at all levels on the forms
of violence perpetrated against Black, ethnic minority and migrant women and on
specific measures to combat this violence.
The economic empowerment of Black,
ethnic minority and migrant women is crucial to improve their situation. As
already explained, barriers preventing Black, ethnic minority and migrant women
accessing the formal labour market are often linked to social isolation and
sometimes to a lack of an independent legal status. In recent times however
women have been increasingly migrating as financially independent individuals [12].
Employment
·
Inferior working
conditions - Job opportunities for Black, ethnic minority and migrant women
are very limited. Often considered as cheap, submissive and flexible employees,
migrant women are strongly concentrated in a few female-dominated occupations:
domestic work, “entertainment” (sometimes prostitution), helping in
restaurants and hotels, illegal clothing companies, assembly lines in
labour-intensive manufacturing plants, etc. These ‘jobs’ offer
inferior working conditions and limited prospects or security, with little
access to information networks and social support, leaving the door open to
discrimination and abuse.
· Limited prospects - Access to employment, as well as prospects
for longer-term security and professional advancement, are often limited due to
the prejudice, stereotyping xenophobia and racism of employers. Considering
that all young first time jobseekers need work experience, for young Black and
migrant people, this is an additional barrier. Access to work experience may
reflect age barriers but is also influenced by the length of migration as well
as by gender. Furthermore, finding a job or training opportunity is often
helped by personal contacts and informal networking. This fact excludes a large
number of immigrants, especially new or recent immigrants who usually occupy a
marginal position in their host societies and lack the networks and contacts
often needed to enter the labour market. Even young immigrants or second
generation immigrants can be affected by the marginalisation their parents
faced before them, the segregation and lack of integration in the host society,
in a way that these structural inequalities and the vicious circle of poverty
and unemployment are perpetuated.
· Isolation - Some Jewish women feel isolated in
the workplace, from both the Christian majority which may mistrust them for
being "different", and from other ethnic minorities, some associating
them with the "majority", others considering them as enemies due to
the conflicts in the Middle East. This isolation is also a reality for some
Muslim women, in particular those wearing the veil who are almost totally
excluded from the formal labour market. Some are explicitly denied employment
because of their veil. Muslim women and women from the Middle East in general
suffer additional barriers to employment as a result of the widespread image of
women from the Middle East, as dependent and submissive beings unfit to occupy
public positions.
· The phenomenon of institutional racism gives rise to negative and
incorrect ideas about Black, ethnic minorities and migrant people.
Institutional racism exists when the activities, practices, policies or laws of
an institution lead, intentionally or unintentionally, to less favourable
treatment and outcomes for minority ethnic groups. For example, where racist
jokes, remarks or behaviour are tolerated in the workplace, the assumption is
that such racist views are held only by
a few isolated persons, rather than by the majority of the employees. However,
by ignoring this kind of behaviour and not addressing the experiences and needs
of minority ethnic groups, the institution is implicitly racist.
The low level of skills and lack of
qualifications of many Black, ethnic minority and migrant women force them to
work in the informal economy, in low-paid and low-skilled jobs. Training
policies that aim to develop skills would increase their employability and
their ability to compete in the labour market. Pre-training courses, which
build self-confidence, are also relevant. Indeed, despite working whether in
the informal or formal economy [X2], Black, ethnic minority and migrant women often lack
confidence in their own skills due to their subordinate financial and social
status.
Education is an important means to
improve the position of all women in society. However, access to education is
difficult for several reasons: cultural barriers and stereotypes, lack of
information about the education system, cultural traditions and beliefs which
consider women’s education of secondary importance.
Recommendations
The EWL calls on the EU and its
Member States:
·
to develop and
support anti-racist awareness raising and training activities, including
a gender-sensitive perspective, in all kinds of education, in public
services and in the private sector;
· to provide information on the education system to ethnic minority and
migrant women at the grassroots level; and promote
campaigns aiming to raise
awareness in ethnic minority communities of the importance of education
for girls and women irrespective of their religious background;
· to assist and encourage Black, ethnic minority and migrant women at the
grassroots level to take part in training courses by providing information and funding for this purpose and to take the
necessary steps to establish a system
of recognition and equivalence of diplomas and professional qualifications
between countries;
· to set up job coaching and introductory training programmes which help recent immigrants and young
foreigners to enter the labour
market.
· to introduce measures, such as free legal
support to women denouncing cases of discrimination and sexual harassment,
to combat discrimination against Black, ethnic
minority and migrant women when accessing employment, encouraging employers to
recognise the advantages of a multicultural dimension in terms of performance
and achievements;
· to introduce compulsory courses at school on world
religions, that will encourage awareness and
respect for other religions and cultures and in particular a genuine
understanding of Judaism and the history of the Jewish people, as well as of
Islam and the Muslim people, and on the history of slavery and colonialism;
· to promote intercultural/ interfaith dialogue in
schools led by teachers who are fully
trained in this field.
Black, ethnic minority and migrant
women tend to be invisible in society, in terms of their representation, their
contribution and the recognition of their needs. Moreover their contribution to
the host society, in terms of economy or culture, is often undervalued, as it
is in fact not visible to large parts of society. Stereotypes of women coming
from minority groups are both a cause and a consequence for this lack of
visibility. They are often not considered skilled individuals who might use their
skills for the good of society at large.
In
this context, the promotion and support of Black, ethnic minority and migrant
women in decision-making positions in the public services should be a real
priority. Such bodies have a direct impact on the everyday life of women in
important areas such as health, housing and education.
Moreover it is essential that the
media pays more attention to the reality and concerns of Black, ethnic minority
and migrant women so that a more positive and objective image is portrayed, as
opposed to very damaging stereotypes. This is the case of pornography, which
greatly reinforces racist stereotypes against Black, migrant and ethnic
minority women by portraying them as ‘exotic’ sexual objects.
Recommendations
The EWL calls on the EU and its
Member States:
· to criminalise the dissemination of racist messages through the media and those organisations
which promote racial discrimination, xenophobia or any form of intolerance and
discrimination;
· to promote the participation of Black, ethnic minority and migrant
women in the decision-making processes in
all aspects of civil, political, economic, social and cultural life;
· to encourage the Media to pay more attention to issues facing Black,
ethnic minority and migrant women, highlighting their
contribution to society as an alternative to promoting damaging sexist
stereotypes;
· to encourage the media to adopt employment policies that reflect the
diversity of society.
· to encourage the media, internet service providers and advertisement agencies
to adopt self-regulatory tools, such as codes of
conduct, in relation to racism, racial discrimination and related intolerance;
· to increase the visibility of Black, ethnic minority and migrant women
by conducting surveys, studies and producing specific statistics.
******
Bibliography
· Beijing Platform for Action,
UN doc. 1995 A/Conf. 177/20
· Overcoming Discrimination, selected strategies empowering Black,
Ethnic Minority and Migrant Women, Jyostna Patel,
European Women’s Lobby, Brussels, 1998
· The Persistence and Mutation of Racism,
International Council on Human Rights, 2000
· Activities of the Council of Europe with relevance to combating
racism and intolerance, ECRI (European Commission
against racism and intolerance) CR(99) 56 final, 1999
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X:\POLICY\Racism\Racism & gender_EN.doc
[1] Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Class, JF Healey 1995
[2] Meeting convened by the UN Division of Advancement of Women (DAW) in collaboration with the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and UNIFEM.
[3] Beijing Declaration para. 32, Beijing Platform for Action, 1995
[4] United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (1979) Preamble, cl.10
[5] UN Commission on the Status of Women (6-16 March 2001) on gender and all forms of discrimination, in particular racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Paragraph 15
[6] The Persistence and Mutation of Racism, International Council on Human Rights, 2000, p. 12
[7] IOM’s policy and gender issues, International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
[8] Article 13 of the Treaty establishing the European Community “Without prejudice to the other provisions of this Treaty and within the limits of the powers conferred by it upon the Community, the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, may take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation”.
[10] Article 21.1: “Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited”.
[11] Overcoming discrimination p.18, Jyostna Patel, EWL
[12] IOM’s policy on gender issues, International Organisation for Migration (IOM)