In 2025, the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency received a record number of 13,067 inquiries to its counseling team. This figure, which saw a 15 percent increase compared to the previous year, was highlighted in the annual report presented Tuesday in Berlin by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Officer, Ferda Ataman.
The overwhelming majority of requests (43 percent, or 4,571 cases) related to racial discrimination. Discrimination based on disability or chronic illness made up 27 percent of the complaints, exceeding 3,000 inquiries for the first time. Gender-based discrimination accounted for about 22 percent of the requests, totaling 2,407 cases. The remaining categories were broken down as follows: age discrimination at 12 percent, religion and belief at around 7 percent, and sexual identity at approximately 4 percent.
Ferda Ataman also heavily criticized the draft legislation for reforming the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), recently approved by the Federal Cabinet. While acknowledging that it is necessary and overdue to close certain gaps in the law, such as those related to sexual harassment, she stated that the planned reforms were “too weak and offer very little benefit to people in their daily lives”.
Speaking to the dts news agency regarding potential changes to the AGG reform during the parliamentary process, Ataman stressed that the most critical improvement would be extending the period allowed for individuals to assert their rights under the AGG. Currently, the two-month deadline, and even the planned four-month period, prevents many people from claiming their rights. She noted that the average deadline in other European countries ranges from three to five years.
Furthermore, Ataman pointed out that several major areas where people experience discrimination are not addressed by the AGG at all. As examples of these oversight areas, the Anti-Discrimination Officer cited discrimination caused by computer programs, such as AI and algorithms. “The AGG says nothing about this, and to date, there is no jurisprudence clarifying it” she remarked, insisting that lawmakers must act.
Finally, she added that the AGG must clarify the role of the state as a service provider. “This must also be clarified: when I interact with state agencies, I should be able to seek compensation or damages, or at the very least, challenge the discrimination itself”.
