Equal Opportunities and Types of Discrimination in Society

Equal Opportunities

Everyone should have equal opportunities to enter the labor market and should not be discriminated against on grounds of sex, race, age, or beliefs such as religion.

In 1910, the writer Clara Zetkin organized the first international conference of socialist women, which passed a resolution establishing March 8 as International Working Women's Day.

In recent years, efforts have increased to reduce workplace discrimination because of age, physical disabilities, or sexual orientation.

Types of Discrimination

1. Racism and xenophobia: Racism is a theory based on the belief that human races have biological differences that justify dominance relationships between them, as well as behaviors of rejection or aggression. The term racism applies to this doctrine and to behavior inspired by it, and is often associated with xenophobia (hatred of foreigners).

2. Discrimination against people with disabilities and the ill: People with disabilities and those who are ill often have difficulty with activities such as using public transportation, climbing stairs, or even using certain appliances. The biggest challenge for people with disabilities has been to overcome society's perception that they are a separate class.

3. Discrimination against women (sexism, machismo): Machismo is a form of sexist dominance adopted by men.

   The man who has been educated in a macho culture from an early age learns to admire or fear other men physically and intellectually. His culture teaches him to see women in terms of value or physical attributes: as instruments of pleasure, objects of exhibition, and as reproducers of the species.

4. Sex discrimination: Sex discrimination is one of the most deeply rooted prejudices in our society.

   Often, women at work are not allowed to occupy various senior positions even though they may be more capable than male applicants for the same position.

   Other women do not even obtain a job because their husband works and they must devote themselves to housework.

   An example of sexism at work can be seen by comparing the sex ratio with the estimated current world population.

5. Religious discrimination: The most tragic example of this would be the genocide by Nazi Germany during the 1930s and 1940s that sought to annihilate European Jewry.

   Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion."