Discrimination is when someone is treated worse than another person. Discriminating against someone because of something to do with their background or identity can be unlawful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reasons why people discriminate against others is often complex and can come from:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Discrimination can happen because of people\u2019s negative, prejudiced, and harmful attitudes, behaviours, and actions towards others. It can also happen because it is built into the policies, practices, and systems that we create in the societies we live in (systemic discrimination) and the organisations where we work (institutional discrimination).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To eliminate discrimination, we need to challenge prejudice and promote understanding. We need to be curious about learning about people and encourage the development of ideas and attitudes. The best way to understand more about people is to listen to people and their experiences, while acknowledging that no two people\u2019s experiences are the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Equality Act 2010 is the legislation in Britain that provides us all with protection from discrimination connected to one or more protected characteristics. Everyone has at least one protected characteristic. These characteristics are protected because we know people experience prejudice and discrimination because of them and this is often the cause of the deep-rooted inequalities we see in society. People can have more than one protected characteristic and we use the term ‘Intersectionality’ to help us understand how people’s identities result in unique combinations that can result in discrimination and privilege. The National Autism Implementation Team created a short film to raise awareness of intersectionality<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we talk about age, we mean how old someone is or the age group they are in. This can mean people of the same age or of a range of ages, for example people \u2018over 60.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n When we talk about disability, we mean a physical or mental impairment that has a \u2018substantial\u2019 and \u2018long-term\u2019 negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n When we talk about gender reassignment, we mean when a person is proposing to undergo, undergoing or has undergone a process to reassign their sex.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n When we talk about pregnancy and maternity, we mean when someone is, or has been pregnant, has given birth or is breastfeeding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n When we talk about race, we mean a person\u2019s colour, nationality (including citizenship), or their ethnic or national origins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n When we talk about religion, we mean any religion and a lack of religion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nAge<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Disability<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Gender Reassignment<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Pregnancy and Maternity<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Race<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Religion or Belief<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n