ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

In 2020, a bill of anti-discrimination has been put forward and this matter is currently being discussed around the National Assembly. However, detailed discussions about anti-discrimination act have not been fully conducted. For example, concerning the concept of discrimination, there are lots of detailed topics such as protected characteristics, the scope of discrimination, discriminatory action, and exemptions of discrimination and we have to examine these specific topic in more details. This article focuses on protected characteristics, which is also called protected grounds, protected attributes. This is because protected characteristics are one of the key issues of anti-discrimination law. In particular, anti-discrimination law can be justified by properly articulating protected characteristics. This article tries to propose a principle or standard of listing protected characteristics in anti-discrimination act as follows. Firstly, A group which is identified by protected characteristics is social minority group which have suffer from discrimination, Secondly, protected characteristics are not an justifiable elements in employment or education. In general, protected characteristics such as sex and race should not be considered as genuine occupational qualification in employment. Thirdly, protected characteristics cannot be voluntarily chosen by themselves. Lastly, exclusion by protected characteristics lead to impairing human dignity and promote or incite discrimination. As a result, considering the above discussions, this article proposes the detailed list of protected characteristics in anti-discrimination act. In addition to current protected characteristics in Human Rights Commission Act, gender identity, language, nationality, employment status, social position, occupation, labor union, economic situation, culture, genetic information and academic background. This can be also considered in reforming the Constitution and enacting hate speech act and hate speech crime.

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