'prejudices' - tagged features

How to make Europe a better place for everyone? Eradicate discrimination of all kinds – against ethnic minorities, against women, against people with disabilities. Achievable goal or pipe dream? European political leaders hope the former and have assigned 2007 as the European year of equal opportunities for all. And they haven’t just given it a name they’ve backed it up with some cash – 15 million euros from the EU, money that’s been added to at the national level. Brigitte Degen is from the Equal Opportunities initiative and she told Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s Richard Walker what it’s supposed to do. 

Perhaps being young and beautiful is some compensation for not getting a break in modelling but the problem of discrimination in hiring practises in France, unsurprisingly, runs much deeper than that. If you’re over 50 years old it’s a struggle to find a job. Young women aren’t hired because companies worry they'll go on maternity leave. And for ethnic minorities the problem is acute. Two years ago an anti-discrimination law set up a framework to punish companies with discriminatory hiring practices – but progress has been slow. RFI's Sarah Elzas examines the case of a young black woman who’s had enough of her skin colour obscuring her skills. 

The European Network Against Racism has just published its annual report and it makes for a startling read. Away from glossy ad-campaigns trumpeting harmony and diversity, ethnic minorities are at the sharp end of a highly competitive job market. Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s Vanessa Mock describes the group’s findings. 

Who has more chance of getting a job in Sweden? Blue eyed Sven, or dark haired Mohammed? In an ideal world, and many feel Sweden’s the closest we’ve come so far, you'd be forgiven for thinking their chances were similar. But you’d be wrong. Several recent studies in the country have shown that if you have a foreign sounding name you have a 33 percent less chance of even being called to an interview. Let alone getting the job. Radio Sweden's Kris Boswell reports... 

Ever since scientists identified HIV, fear, denial and stigma have accompanied the AIDS epidemic. In many countries around the world the disease is closely associated with discrimination. Individuals affected by HIV have been rejected by their families, their friends and their communities. In Cyprus the official number of HIV positive persons is around 500, but AIDS support groups estimate the figure is four times higher. A significant figure for an island of less than one million people where everybody knows each other. Cypriot society believes AIDS is not a problem, but prejudice is killing HIV sufferers. Deutsche Welle reporter Barbara Gruber traveled to the Mediterranean island to investigate. 

There are significantly less Muslims in Sweden than in France but that doesn't mean the 300,000 strong community isn't facing its own issues of integration. Sweden's official policy is multiculturalism. But just what that means is a source of constant debate. One product of Sweden's search for its own brand of multiculturalism is Gringo magazine, which turns prejudice on its head by using the language of the suburbs where most of Sweden's immigrant population lives. Meryam Can, managing editor of the magazine, draws on her own Turkish-Swedish backgound to discuss integration and discrimination in Swedish society. 

You usually go to your library to borrow a book. How about borrowing a human being instead? Maybe an obese person, a bouncer, a Moslem or why not a politician? Then you should head to the Swedish Travelling Exhibition's Prejudice Library. 

Europe's Roma community suffer arguably even worse discrimination than immigrants do. Journalism is frequently responsible for blackening the name of this minority, who often live on the fringes of mainstream society. But it can equally be used to inform, as prejudice is often born simply out of ignorance. Radio Sweden reports on a meeting of Romani journalists from accross Europe that took place in Stockhom recently, and found out about the special difficulties faced by reporters from this community.