Equal Treatment Equal

THE GREEK OMBUDSMAN INDEPENDENT AUTHORITY EQUAL TREATMENT EQUAL TREATMENT TREATMENT EQUAL SPECIAL REPORT 2019 makes • the difference! SPECIAL REPORT 2019 SPECIAL Respect THE GREEK OMBUDSMAN INDEPENDENT AUTHORITY NATIONAL PRINTING HOUSE CVR_ISH-METAXEIRHSH_2020_ENG.indd 1 09/07/2020 12:09 μ.μ. EQUAL TREATMENT SPECIAL REPORT 2019 (article 25 paragraph 8 Law 3896/2010 and article 19 paragraph 6 Law 4443/2016) THE GREEK OMBUDSMAN INDEPENDENT AUTHORITY Editor in Chief Kalliopi Lykovardi Central Editorial Board Amalia Leventi Anastasia Matana Editors Christina Angeli Lambros Baltsiotis Konstantinos Bartzeliotis Ilektra Demirou Amalia Leventi Anastasia Matana Dimitra Mytilineou Andriani Papadopoulou Eleni Stampouli Evangelos Tsakirakis Maria Voutsinou Statistical Data Processing Dimitra Mytilineou Coordination Alexandra Politostathi Artistic design and layout SYNTHESIS [email protected] Greek language editing Vaso Bachourou [email protected] English translation Glossima & Wehrheim [email protected] The text of this document may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium pro- vided that it is reproduced accurately and not in a misleading context. The Greek Ombudsman’s copyright of the material must be acknowledged while the title of the report must be mentioned. Wherever third party material has been used, it is necessary to obtain per-mission from the respective copyright holder. Please forward any enquiries regarding this publication to the following e-mail address: [email protected]. The Equal Treatment Special Report 2019 was printed in 2020, by the National Printing House in 700 Greek and 300 English copies. The full version of the Report is available on the website of the Greek Ombudsman https://www.synigoros.gr/?i=stp.en.specialreporten © The Greek Ombudsman 17, Halkokondyli Str., Athens, GR-104 32 (+30) 213 1306 600 www.synigoros.gr THE GREEK OMBUDSMAN @Synigoros Dimensions: 17x24, Pages: 120 ISSN: 2623-4300 Contents Preface .............................................................................................................................. 7 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 9 The year in numbers.................................................................................................. 13 Equal treatment in practice .................................................................................... 19 Issues on implementation and interpretation per ground of discrimination ................................................................................. 39 DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN ............................................... 41 Violation of the provisions on the protection of motherhood ........................ 41 Sexual harassment ............................................................................................... 45 Balancing work and family life ............................................................................ 46 DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF RACIAL ORIGIN ........................................ 48 Social exclusion and the breakdown of social cohesion................................. 48 Roma residence as a requirement for exercising rights ................................. 50 DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF NATIONAL OR ETHNIC ORIGIN ............. 53 Discrimination on grounds of national or ethnic origin among Greek citizens .................................................................................................... 53 Discrimination on the grounds of national or ethnic origin regarding access to goods and services .......................................................................... 55 DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF RELIGIOUS OR OTHER BELIEFS ............. 57 Discrimination towards Roma, conscientious objector .................................. 57 DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF DISABILITY OR CHRONIC DISEASE ....... 59 Stereotypes as a hindrance to access to employment ................................... 60 The employer’s obligation for reasonable accommodation .......................... 61 5 EQUAL TREATMENT | SPECIAL REPORT 2019 Sanctions as a means of preventing discrimination ........................................ 62 Sanctions as a means of achieving compromise ............................................ 63 Justified different treatment on grounds of disability or chronic disease .... 65 DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF AGE ............................................................ 67 The general principle of the prohibition of age discrimination .................... 67 The requirement for a specific justification ...................................................... 68 Justified different treatment .............................................................................. 70 DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF FAMILY STATUS........................................ 73 Difficulties single parents face in gaining access to employment ................. 73 The need to facilitate working single parents .................................................. 75 DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF SOCIAL STATUS ....................................... 77 Criminal conviction as a ground for exclusion from the labour market ........ 77 Criminal prosecution as an impediment to occupation and employment .... 78 DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION ........................... 80 Refusal to register foreign civil partnership agreements between gay couples ....................................................................................................... 80 DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF GENDER IDENTITY ................................... 84 Guarantees of secrecy as protection from violations ..................................... 84 Targeted interventions for promoting the principle of equal treatment .......................................................................... 87 Balancing work and family life ................................................................................. 89 Promoting the principle of equal treatment irrespective of disability or chronic disease ............................................................................................... 93 Intervention into combating xenophobic behaviour ............................................. 98 The Ombudsman’s view on the lifting of social exclusion of the Roma and the curbing of social conflicts .............................................. 99 Administrative detention of LGBTQ+ seeking international protection ............102 Information and awarenesss-raising actions - european network ....................104 Legislative and organisational proposals 2019 .........................................107 Abbreviations .............................................................................................................115 6 Preface It is commonly asserted that the effects of the protracted ‘memoranda’ experience, that of economic stagnation and strict financial adjustment, cannot be entirely reversed in the space of one or two years. Systematic ef- fort over time will be needed to bring about tangible results on measures and policies aimed at broadening management of social benefits, of sup- porting the social, welfare state and of strengthening the state’s oversight functions and mechanisms. What cannot be overlooked is the impact that this ‘memoranda’ experience has had on the protection of fundamental rights, on equal access to and enjoyment of those rights from society as a whole. Be that as it may, this experience does not qualify as the sole reason for the uneven playing field as regards the implementation of the principle of equal treatment that the National Body has ascertained for another year. Much of the re- sponsibility can be attributed to deeply rooted prejudices and stereotyp- ical attitudes at an individual as well as a collective level. Looking for ele- ments that differentiate ‘us’ from ‘them’, targeting diversity as a matter of course operates as a pretext to justify discrimination. Gender, origin, age, social or family status, health, beliefs, sexual orientation and gender identity all continue to spawn in our individual and collective consciousness the divide between ‘us’ and ‘them’ in employment, education, health, social insurance, tax, welfare; in social integration and acceptance in general. No matter how many positive measures are taken, how many policies and strategies are planned, how many institutional interventions are carried out, their effectiveness will continue to remain relative as long as we ig- nore the fact that the ‘others’ are none other than ‘ourselves’ in some man- ifestation and expression of our personal or social life and action. The 2019 Special Report attempts to give a brief overview of the level of respect shown towards the principle of equal treatment in Greece, as well as of the harmonisation of the domestic legislative framework with the principles’ imperatives. Once again, it highlights persistent areas of discrimination in the workplace, in education, in family and in every area of social activity. It thus exposes us to attitudes and practices that are rather a cause for embarrassment to us all. 7 EQUAL TREATMENT | SPECIAL REPORT 2019 For the three years that the Greek Ombudsman has been operating as the National Body for upholding and promoting the principle of equal treatment in Greece, we have intensified our efforts at mediation and intervention, reinforced our oversight competences, enriched our legislative pro-

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