"Improving equality data collection in Belgium" (IEDCB) is a Belgian project co-funded by the European Commission's Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) programme. It is carried out in partnership by the Equal Opportunities Team (FOD Justitie - SPF Justice) and Unia.

In 2019, Unia saw a continued upward trend in the number of reports and cases concerning discrimination. ‘The number of reports was 13.2% higher than in 2018, while the caseload increased by 6.9%. On social media, we are seeing harsher language, about people with disabilities, Muslims and refugees, for example’, says Unia director Els Keytsman. ‘There is a normalisation of hate speech on social media, as well as on the street.’

There are still too few figures on inequality and discrimination in Belgium, say Unia and the Equal Opportunities Team of the Federal Public Service (FPS) Justice. “For example, if you want to find out whether people of other origins have equal access to healthcare in Belgium, it will be difficult to find reliable data. We urgently need more high-quality data to map equality or inequality in key domains in Belgium”, emphasizes Els Keytsman, director of Unia.  

When Jonatas and Tim became victims of homophobic violence, they decided to take immediate action. They asked the police and Unia for help: two years after their report, the perpetrators were convicted by the court. We let Jonatas and Tim speak.