Gendered experiences of racial discrimination: comparative socio-legal research.

Multiple and intersectional discrimination is increasingly discussed by academics and policy-makers in the European Union but the understanding of key concepts, the most significant target groups and the available evidence for discrimination all differ enormously between the different European countries. In this Chapter, we present some of the discussions arising from a comparative European project: GendeRace: the Use of Racial Anti-discrimination Laws. Gender and Citizenship in a Multicultural Context, which examined, through empirical research, some of the problems in moving beyond the national level in understanding and evaluating multiple discrimination. We present the project and the diversity of the countries involved and their history of immigration. Then we focus on the difficulties of comparison arising from the fact that race and ethnicity are contested concepts and thus their interpretation and treatment vary. Another difficulty is to capture evidence for racial discrimination, especially in countries where data on race or racial origin are considered sensitive, requiring high levels of data protection and ethical standards. We also examine the ways in which multiple discrimination is handled in legislation