Finland Times

About 500 cases related to discrimination were registered with the ombudsman’s office in 2015.

An expansion of the scope of cases handled by the ombudsman has been attributed for the increase in the number of cases.

According to Pimiä, the extension of duties is clearly necessary.

“Anyone of us can be subject to discrimination. Those who contact us are merely the tip of the iceberg,” said Pimiä.

According to last year’s statistics, ethnic origin and disability are the most common reasons that the authority is contacted.

About 200 cases in 2015 were related to discrimination against a person based on ethnic origin. There were about 90 cases of discrimination based on disability.

Approximately 40 of the cases involved discriminatory language. Discrimination based on age, citizenship and health concerned about 30 cases each.