Ghent first Belgian city to launch plan to expose discrimination

Ghent is the first Belgian city to adopt a comprehensive action plan to combat discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, religion, age or disability. The city plans to use undercover researchers – known as mystery shoppers – to expose discrimination by companies, landlords and employment agencies. The tests will initially be carried out by staff at Ghent University as research projects.

The university has already carried out research in the rented property market, which revealed that one in three potential tenants is turned down because they sound or appear foreign, while half of candidate tenants receiving social benefits are rejected.

The city has turned to the university to ensure that its methods for detecting discrimination are rigorous. “The key problem with discrimination is ensuring that complaints are legitimate,” said equal opportunities councillor Resul Tapmaz (pictured). “By employing scientific methods, we can build up a picture of discrimination.”

The city already has a policy that allows it to cancel contracts with contractors that have been exposed for discrimination. It now plans to meet offending organisations and individuals to persuade them to change their recruitment policies. The city also wants to encourage organisations in the culturalal sector to serve as models by recruiting staff from all segments of society.

But Tapmaz admits that the city has limited powers to impose sanctions on the grounds of discrimination. He hopes that governments will take up the city’s ideas and change policy at the regional level. “It’s not enough to raise awareness; we have to go further,” he told De Morgen.