Discrimination is the unequal, unfair or hostile treatment of individuals or groups based on such features as their

• gender
• age
• disability
• sexual orientation and identity
• skin colour
• national or ethnic origin
• religion

Discrimination, therefore, consist in treating people with certain characteristics different (usually unfavourably) as compared to how others in a similar situation would be treated.

Discrimination can occur in various areas of our lives, such as in education or at work. Everyone can become its victim or a witness, or even an unwitting perpetrator. This is because discrimination takes many different forms, from jokes and small gestures (e.g. a lecturer telling sexist jokes in class), through unwittingly or intentionally expressed beliefs or reproduced rituals and customs (e.g. repeating the slogan that women are inferior in maths or inviting only men as experts at conferences), to grossly unfair behaviour (e.g. not giving female students maximum grades in exams regardless of their competences or assigning positions according to gender rather than qualifications).

Different treatment is not discrimination if it’s reason is related to a genuine occupational requirement (e.g. denying a person who doesn't use verbal speech access to jobs requiring voice work).

Nor is it discrimination to treat people differently in order to equalise opportunities (e.g. providing facilities only for people with disabilities).