Equality between men and women is a universal legal principle included in both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, passed in 1979 and ratified by Spain in 1983.
In that regard and taking into account the subsequent legislations, measures, agreements and bills that were published in relation to the equality between men and women, there is a wide range of regulations that could be classified according to their field of action. Firstly, there is an international legal framework that started with the United Nations Charter, signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco. This bill would be followed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights three years later. In the following decades, different bills and conventions continued to analyse the situation of women around the world, thus enhancing total equality in terms of men and women's rights.
Moreover, regarding the international scene, the activity of the EU in this field is of great relevance. As early examples we have the Treaty of Rome (signed in 1957), followed by the Maastricht Treaty (1992) and the Amsterdam Treaty (1997). It is also important to highlight the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, signed on 11 May 2011, in Istanbul, and the subsequent directives, decisions, recommendations, regulations and reports that have been developed by the EU.
In the state level there is also a legal framework for the whole of the Spanish territory based on the Constitution and expanded by:
- Law 39/1999 to promote employees' work-life balance.
- Organic Law 1/2004, on Protective Measures against Gender Violence.
- Organic Law 3/2007, on effective equality between men and women.
- Royal Decree 2/2015, 23 October, which approves the Consolidated Text of the Worker's Statute.
- Finally, the autonomic legal framework needs to be mentioned. In this case, it consists of:
- Decree 2/2015, which approves the Consolidated Text of the legal provisions regarding equality.
- Law 11/2007, on the prevention and treatment of gender violence.
- Law 2/2014, on the equal treatment and non-discrimination of the LGTBI community in Galicia.
If you want to know more about the different measures, legal texts and frameworks regarding equality, you can access all the information following this link.