Every March 21 is celebrated the World Day for the Eradication of Racial Discrimination. In Peru, discrimination remains a major problem. According to the National Survey of Perceptions and Attitudes conducted in 2018 by the Ministry of Culture and IPSOS, 53% consider Peruvians to be very racist, although only 8% consider themselves racist.
While all people can be discriminated against on different grounds, there are particularly marginalized groups in history. We can think, for example, of ethnic-cultural groups, the LGTBIQ+ population or, until not many decades ago, women.
Combating discrimination also means avoiding social exclusion so that people can function in freedom. It is no coincidence that the percentage of the Afro-Peruvian population that accesses higher education is minimal, that the mortality rate is higher in the trans population or that those who are discriminated against are also those who have less access to basic health, education or sanitation services.
The solution to discrimination is not automatic and it is likely to take a long time to see its fruits. The State has an important role that is reflected in the valuation of cultural diversity, but also and in parallel, in the reduction of the gaps that currently affect the population. This vision must also be taken up by NGOs in their various interventions. In the end, it is not about seeking a society of equals, but about embracing the differences that make us unique.
Editor: María Claudia Augusto Meléndez
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