Promoting Equality and Protecting Women: A Comprehensive Overview
Promoting Equality and Protecting Women
3.4 – Plans for Equal Opportunities
The initial plan aimed to support the regulatory framework for achieving equality and transforming attitudes, behaviors, lifestyles, and social structures that hinder women’s personal growth and participation in culture, work, and politics.
The second Equality Plan, adopted by the Council of Ministers, continued the established lines of action and incorporated new measures to address emerging challenges and situations faced by women in a changing society.
The third Plan for Equality of Opportunities between Women and Men emphasized the need to strengthen specific measures against discrimination, mainstreaming the principle of equality, and integrating social entrepreneurship into government policies.
Currently, the Fourth Plan is in effect, promoting the inclusion of equal opportunities for women and men in the policies, plans, and strategies of all public administrations. Key initiatives include incorporating the definition of direct and indirect discrimination into labor law, analyzing the principle of equal pay in job evaluations, and promoting women’s employability through training and support for entrepreneurship, particularly in emerging sectors. It also encourages women’s participation in decision-making, particularly in expert groups within the General Administration, collective bargaining platforms, and the teaching profession.
The plan promotes quality of life in health, education, and culture, and provides care for women in vulnerable situations. Measures include eliminating the minimum contribution period for maternity benefits and strengthening information centers on women’s rights.
Furthermore, it promotes equality in civic life, combats domestic violence, trafficking, and sexual exploitation. The transmission of values and attitudes requires the participation of all stakeholders, especially the education system and the media.
Reconciling work and family life necessitates resources to support families in caring for children and dependents. The plan encourages businesses to promote this reconciliation, increase nursery places, and expand care services for dependents.
3.5 – The Act to Promote the Reconciliation of Work and Family Life
Women’s entry into the workforce has driven significant social change in this century, prompting authorities to consider a balanced distribution of responsibilities between professional and private life.
Law 39/1999 of November 5th introduces new features, including equal participation of fathers and mothers in childcare. It provides 16 weeks of leave after childbirth, shareable from the 6th week, provided the mother’s return to work poses no health risks. Adoptive parents are also entitled to this leave.
The updated text extends the leave to children up to 6 years old and grants 16 weeks of leave for adopted or placed children over 6 years old with disabilities or specific circumstances, or those from abroad who may face social and family difficulties, as accredited by social services. If necessary, the leave can begin up to 4 weeks before the child’s arrival in the country.
The law offers special protection for women at risk during pregnancy, requiring companies to provide suitable alternative work. If a woman cannot work, a new financial benefit is provided by social security, along with reductions for temporary contracts covering this situation.
It also facilitates care for family members who cannot care for themselves due to age or illness and are not employed. It allows for reduced working hours or unpaid leave of up to one year to care for a relative up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity.
In terms of employment, programs like the Nova Clara program aim to improve the quality of life for women facing difficulties in job placement and promote entrepreneurship. The Optimum program collaborates with over 50 large and medium-sized enterprises to implement equal opportunities in their workplaces.
4 – Protection of Women in High-Risk Social Situations: Violence Against Women
High-risk social situations are those where women lack the resources to overcome economic, social, or personal disadvantages. This includes victims of sexual assault or abuse, prostitution, women in prison, or single-parent families.
The vulnerability faced by women in these situations and the need to provide them with resources to prevent or escape violence led to the creation and approval of the first Action Plan Against Domestic Violence in 1998, promoted by the Institute for Women in collaboration with various ministries, Autonomous Communities, the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, and NGOs.