Last year, the Anti-Discrimination Agency received a record number of complaints from individuals like Mahmoud, who was desperately searching for an apartment and yet was rarely invited to view potential properties.In contrast, his German friend Stefan was invited to view an apartment that had supposedly already been taken.

Other cases of alleged discrimination include a gay couple who were told by Germany's child welfare agency that they had a "pathological, unnatural web of relationships," and a trainee at a logistics company who repeatedly became the victim of aggressive sexual harassment by a colleague.

All of these people contacted the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency in 2024 to report their experiences of discrimination.

"Discrimination is a growing problem in Germany. We have a massive problem with racism. We have a massive problem with sexism. And there is a huge reluctance to allow people with disabilities to participate equally," says Ferda Ataman, the independent federal anti-discrimination commissioner.

However, Ataman also believes that the increase in requests for advice is a sign of trust in the rule of law, as more and more people........

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