What term describes the unjust treatment of individuals based on race, age, sex, or religion?

The term that best describes the unjust treatment of individuals based on race, age, sex, or religion is discrimination. Discrimination refers specifically to actions or behaviors that result in unfair or unequal treatment of people because of their characteristics. This encompasses a wide range of practices, including employment discrimination, housing discrimination, and educational inequalities, among others.

Understanding discrimination is crucial because it highlights systemic issues in society where individuals or groups may not receive the same rights or opportunities as others purely based on their identity. This term is often used in both legal contexts and social discussions to address and combat inequality.

While prejudice refers to preconceived opinions not based on reason or actual experience, and bias pertains to a tendency to favor one thing over another, discrimination involves the actionable outcome that affects people directly. Segregation specifically refers to the enforced separation of different groups, which can stem from discriminatory practices but is not synonymous with the broader concept of unjust treatment itself.