Statistics on Discrimination
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A more descriptive post on discrimination is here.
Content:
1. Discrimination of minorities
2. Gender discrimination
3. Discrimination of homosexuals
1. Discrimination of minorities
This graph gives information on perceived discrimination in minority groups in the Netherlands (click on the picture to enlarge):
(source)
(Perceived discrimination is not the same as real discrimination: people can believe they are being discriminated against without there being any actual discrimination, while actual discrimination may not be perceived as such).
The following graph show the perception of the worsening plight of African Americans in the US:
(source)
However, when asked for the reasons, most consider discrimination not to be the most important one:
Although poverty has many causes, discrimination is undoubtedly one of them. Large differences in wealth between groups (for example racial groups) may indicate the existence of discrimination. Here are some data on the situation in the US:
(source)
Statistics on the differences between races in incarceration or execution rates may indicate the existence of discrimination in the justice system, although these differences may have other causes besides discrimination, e.g. differences in poverty rates (see above), differences in levels of education etc. Of course, the latter differences may be caused by discrimination so that discrimination is indirectly the cause of the differences in the application of justice. Here again are some data on the situation in the US, showing that blacks, althoug they make up only 12% of the population, account for more than 1 in 3 of the prison population and of the executions. 5% of black men are in jail, compared to less than 1% of white men.
Blacks are also about twice as likely as whites to be a victim of a crime.
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2. Gender discrimination
The “Global Gender Gap Index 2007”, published by the World Economic Forum, ranks 128 countries according to the level of gender-inequality existing in those countries. This ranking is based on 14 indicators covering political representation, access to education, health and economic participation.
All of the world’s countries are affected by gender-based inequality, but some more than others. The Global Gender Gap Index tries to measure the levels of inequality.
These are the categories that are measured and that make up the global index:
This is the 2007 ranking (there are no long historical series so difficult to analyze evolutions):
Here’s a map of country performances:
(source)
Everyone, without any discrimination, the right to equal pay for equal work, but even in industrialized countries there is salary discrimination (see the graph below) and there are promotion obstacles for women. In developing countries, this discrimination is even worse.
There is a global gender disparity in primary and secondary education. One way to measure this is to count how many women have secure and paid employment in areas other than agriculture:
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3. Discrimination of homosexuals
Over the last centuries and especially the last decades, acceptance of homosexuality by people in the West and in Asia has increased, as is shown by this graph (figures for the US):
(source)
However, in large parts of Africa and the Middle East this is not yet the case. The following graph shows the status of homosexuality laws in the world. I know one cannot deduce public opinion from laws in non-democratic countries, but there must be some correlation:
Public opinion is as follows:
(source)
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