Dresden (dpa / sn) – About half (55 percent) of the participants in a survey in Saxony have felt discrimination in recent years. In different areas of life there is a different risk of having such experiences, according to a finding of the study presented in Dresden on Monday. “The risk of being discriminated against is particularly high for queer people, people with disabilities and people affected by racist attributions.” Non-heterosexual people or people who do not identify with the traditional role model of men and women or other social norms relating to gender and sexuality describe themselves as queer.
On behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Equal Opportunities, questions were asked about the categories of gender, religious affiliation, physical appearance, age, disability and sexual orientation. The results would not or only to a small extent differ from nationwide experience, it said with reference to a population survey throughout Germany.
Discrimination was particularly often about appearance. Forty-six percent of the people who reported experiencing discrimination in the survey related it to their body weight or body shape. Women are therefore affected more often than men. 57 percent of women said they had experienced discrimination, compared to 52 percent of men.
“Respondents in Saxony most frequently experienced forms of social degradation. Between a quarter and a third of the people had at least once experienced being stared at (29 percent), being denied intelligence or abilities (29 percent) or with regard to their own A statement from the study was that performance was devalued (28 percent).
Discrimination has sometimes serious emotional and health consequences for those affected, it said. Almost half of those surveyed (45 percent) named depression or other stress disorders as a result. 27 percent referred to physical complaints. More than two-thirds of those surveyed stated that they were often sad or stressed because of such experiences.
Some indicated an increase in discrimination during the corona pandemic: “Respondents report that anti-Asian racism has increased,” said the four authors of the survey. For the study, the German Center for Integration and Migration Research surveyed more than 3,700 women and men in Saxony from mid-March to the end of June 2021. The question was about discrimination in the years 2019 to 2021.
