Abstract
Within the last decade, Spain has become a model in legislative policies for gender equality at the international level. However, the economic crisis has led to a growth in inequality, which has revealed the weaknesses of the adopted instruments. Despite the large amount of legislation in this area, the social reality has not changed at all, even experiencing a setback over the past few years. This situation was exposed in our country by a report issued in 2015 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This report showed the negative effects of the economic crisis and austerity policies on women, even in a context necessitating increased efforts towards women’s rights. Therefore, it is imperative that the concept of gender mainstreaming and the adoption of instruments of “hard law” be revisited. The goal should be to achieve gender justice based on three elements—distribution, identity, and representation—and a real parity democracy.
Highlights
In Madrid on 12 May 2009, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, in the Declaration “Making Gender Equality a Reality”, highlighted that “the legal status of women had improved over time, but that 20 years after, its Declaration on equality of women and men (Council of Europe, 1988), bridging the gap between gender equality and in laws is still a challenge for its member states.”that gap has grown in recent years in Europe: “The European Economic Recovery Plan” does not mention the concepts of “gender”, “equality” or “women”, despite the discrepancies of gender for women and men in the crisis
The UN Committee insisted that it is precisely at a time of economic crisis and fiscal constraint that special efforts are necessary to guarantee the rights of women, giving priority to those who are in situations of greater vulnerability
The economic crisis effects on equality show that the more efficient instrument for fighting inequality and the only way to overcome the negative effects of austerity measures is gender mainstreaming
Summary
In Madrid on 12 May 2009, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, in the Declaration “Making Gender Equality a Reality”, highlighted that “the legal status of women had improved over time, but that 20 years after, its Declaration on equality of women and men (Council of Europe, 1988), bridging the gap between gender equality and in laws is still a challenge for its member states.”. Many of the weaknesses identified by the UN Committee agree with the diagnosis that the European Commission made in 2010 when they presented the “Strategy for Equality between Women and Men 2010–2015“ They distinguished five priority areas where there was still inequality in the European countries: equal economic independence, equal pay for equal work and work of equal value, equality in decision-making, ending gender-based violence and equality in external actions. The negative report of the United Nations unveils two interrelated issues: (1) The weaknesses of most of the equality policies adopted in Spain, the legislative instruments; and (2) The survival of some social, political, legal, economic and cultural patterns which extend this patriarchal order. The economic crisis effects on equality show that the more efficient instrument for fighting inequality and the only way to overcome the negative effects of austerity measures is gender mainstreaming
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