THE EQUALITY OF WOMEN AND MEN: FROM THEORY TO REALITY

Abstract

These pages analyse the evolution of equality between women and men in Spain, which has gone from theory to reality with a progressive recognition of women's rights. The process of recognition of women's equality began fundamentally with the approval of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and from that moment onwards it has been consolidated through constitutional development laws and the jurisprudence of the ordinary courts and the Constitutional Court. As is well known, Spain is a State whose power is territorially decentralized, and which is made up of seventeen Autonomous Communities that have legislative capacity, as well as two autonomous cities, (Ceuta and Melilla). Both, the State and the Autonomous Communities, have legislated the matter of the equality of women and men. At the State level, Organic Law 1/2004, dated 28 December, for Integrated Protection Measures against Gender Violence stands out along with Organic law 3/2007, dated 22 March, for the equality of women and men. The Organic Law 3/2007, dated 22 March, for the equality of women and men, completed the constitutional provisions in the matter of equality between women and men. The approval of this Organic Law represented a substantial change in the Spanish legal system, by modifying numerous laws and with its oversight, allowing the application of means to promote and guarantee the equality of women in relation to men in the most important legal and social settings. Today it can be said that equality between women and men in Spain is a reality, although there is still a long way to go to achieve greater levels of equality.