Intersectional discrimination in the European legal systems

Abstract

In the past few years, the phenomenon of multi-grounded discrimination has been debated in the European legal and socio-logical arena under the term “intersectional discrimination”. Intersectional discrimination is referred to where an individual is discriminated against on several grounds at the same time and in such a way that these are mutually constitutive and inseparable. Over time, new manifestations of disadvantage at the intersections between gender, religion, race, and disability emerged in a multicultural Europe. Nevertheless, the European legislature seems to follow a single-axis approach banning only single-grounded discrimination. Although some European courts tried to deal with cases of intersectional discrimination and a number of non-governmental organizations and researchers have devoted considerable time and resources in addressing the effect of multiple forms of discrimination, there is an urgent need to ensure full and systematic recognition of intersectional discrimination at the legislative level. Part I of this paper will provide an overview and analysis of the European Union (EU) anti-discrimination Directives. Part II shows if and to what extent European countries acknowledge and address the phenomenon of intersectional discrimination. Part III will call for a more systematic legal response and propose a new EU Directive addressing intersectional discrimination.