There has been ‘explosive growth’ in the number of reports about discrimination in the Netherlands over the past year, according to the Dutch human rights council College Rechten van de Mens.

In particular, there has been a sharp rise in work-related discrimination claims, the council says in its 2013 annual report.

‘Discrimination is a broad subject and the increase in reports does not necessarily mean an increase in discrimination,’ said council chairwoman Laurien Koster. ‘But it is a serious issue.’

Work

In total, the commission received 2,481 complaints about discrimination last year, a rise of 75% on 2012. More than half the complaints focused on work.

‘Exclusion takes place at entry level to the labour market,’ the report states. ‘We have indications that companies are refusing to accept people on work experience schemes because of their skin colour or because they wear a headscarf.’

Of the discrimination reports, the council was asked to make a ruling in almost 500 cases. It made rulings in 183 cases. Of those, 22% dealt with sex discrimination, 18% were race or origin based, and 17% concerned both age and/or discrimination against people with a handicap.