There is no country where discrimination has been dealt with once and for all. At the same time, the life of a particular person is affected not so much by the presence of inequality itself, as by whether the state sees it as a problem and is undertaking steps to resolve it. The issue of discrimination in Belarusian society is a huge problem, as is the lack of understanding surrounding it and the unwillingness of the government to do anything about it.

As a negative phenomenon, discrimination has its own specific characteristics. On the one hand, it’s inherently a legal problem—as it comprises a violation of the right to equal treatment—and, in Belarus’s case, the impossibility of defending that right. On the other hand, the root causes of the problem are stereotypes, fears, and prejudices that arise from inadequate, distorted, or incomplete information, policies, practices, and cultural traditions, which, in turn, reinforce discriminatory practices in society, creating barriers for some and privileges for others.

It is the direct legal responsibility of a government not only to create effective legislation and protection mechanisms, but also to counteract any phenomena that affect how people are treated in practice.

There are misconceptions regarding discrimination itself: people who don’t experience it think it doesn’t exist. Those who do often fail to understand that they are being discriminated against, just as those who discriminate often fail to understand that they are violating human rights. This is partially what makes it so difficult to get a grasp of the scale of the problem of discrimination in Belarus. After 2020, when a huge number of people faced discrimination on political grounds, one would expect social perceptions of discrimination to become more nuanced.

However, some people, despite themselves being subject to obvious discrimination, refuse to understand that the situation where you are refused a mattress at the Okrestina prison because you’re in for “political” reasons, and the situation when a woman is denied a job because “she’ll have a baby soon and just go on maternity leave,” or the situation when parents cannot find a Belarusian-language Kindergarten or school within walking distance “because most people want to learn in Russian anyway” (and many other examples), are really analogous. This is all unjustified differential treatment.

In Belarus, there is no state-level mechanism for monitoring anti-discrimination measures, and there has been no comprehensive sociological research in this area.

To be brief, Belarus lacks the proper legislative norms. This means that:

• First, in the legislation there is no general definition of discrimination applicable to all areas regulated by the law. Discrimination is mentioned separately in the Labor Code, as well as in the Law on the Rights of Disabled People and their Social Integration. General norms regarding equal treatment do exist, such as in the Law on the Rights of Children and some procedural laws. In cases that are not covered by these two documents, appeals must refer to the general norm on equality in Article. 22 of the Constitution.

• Second, and consequently, Belarusian legislation does not set forth any effective mechanisms of legal protection against discrimination; anti-discrimination expertise is not provided for in the legislation; there are no procedures for effectively considering discrimination cases by the courts.

In discrimination cases, according to legislative best practice, the burden of proof should fall on the defendant (and not, as a general rule, be distributed equally between the sides). This means that the party whose actions are alleged to be discriminatory must prove that they are not; it is not up to the victim of inequality to prove that they have been discriminated against. This is connected with the fact that in such cases, the sides are in an unequal position: those who face discrimination are more vulnerable, as their ability to exercise their rights depends on the party doing the discriminating.

Due to the state of affairs described above, court practice of discrimination cases is largely absent in Belarus. Lawsuits are often fruitless, as the courts tend to refuse to even consider discrimination cases.

The legal and socio-cultural components of fighting discrimination are intertwined. You can’t address one without the other. Therefore, reforms in this sphere ought to be holistic:

• Anti-discrimination policies and strategy. Any plans must involve, inter alia, measures for raising awareness and educating people. Three groups in particular should be targeted: government officials, members of the business community, and lawyers. The first two groups determine whether individuals can exercise their rights, while the third should be qualified to provide high-quality aid in discrimination cases.

• Comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. This should consist of the Constitution, international legal obligations, a special law on equality that has yet to be enacted, and existing legislative acts (which should then be updated to reflect the new law on equality).

• An effective system of legal remedies. This would involve the establishment of a dedicated body for dealing with discrimination cases. This function could be performed by either a general or a specialized ombudsman. An example of good practice in a similar context to Belarus’s is the Equality Council of Moldova.

• A monitoring system.

A central element of the reform would be the passing of a separate law on equality. Such a law would guarantee much-needed systematization in the fight against discrimination for all parties potentially involved.

In short—fight against our own prejudices and stereotypes and develop empathy:

• It’s important to try and understand that each of us could become a victim of discrimination. The late Aleh Hulak, former chairman of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, put it best in an interview: “Discrimination is always the problem of minorities, the majority is always fine, but each and every one of us has individual characteristics that make us a minority in some form or another. We’re all minorities in some way.”

• Accepting “others” and accepting someone else’s “otherness” does not mean you have to love and accept views and actions you do not believe in. No. Accepting the “otherness” of a different person means admitting that he or she has the same human dignity that you do.

• Try and put yourself in the place of others more often. Think more often about how you refer and relate to vulnerable groups.

• If you see that you are being discriminated against, but at the moment you have no legal recourse for defending yourself, at the very least do not normalize the situation by staying silent. Call things by their name: “I can’t defend myself right now, but I want you to know that you are discriminating against me for such and such a reason (of course, it’s also important to avoid abusing the concept of discrimination by resorting to it whenever you don’t get what you want).

• If you see that someone near you is being subjected to discrimination, try and defend the person as much as possible, and call things by their name.