“A set of factors and social stereotypes that are still rooted in our society lead to citizens being discriminated against or treated badly,” van Dunem said during the presentation of a programme to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 40th of Portugal’s signing the European Convention of Human Rights.
The secretary of state for citizenship and equality, Rosa Monteiro, noted that last year almost 27,000 women had been victims of domestic violence and 16 women killed, and that in 2015 some 7,000 women and girls had undergone genital mutilation.
Monteiro also cited the 206 complaints about racial discrimination submitted this year, and substandard housing conditions faced by over half of Portugal’s ethnic gypsy population.
Other problems cited by Monteiro include unequal salaries for men and women, poor representation of women in politics, discrimination against members of the LGBT community in school, and the existence of 175 known victims of human trafficking in 2017.