On International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on March 8, the acting Ombudsman of Spain, Francisco Fernández Marugán, has asked the administrations to make an effort to ensure full equality of women and men in all areas of the society.
Labor Discrimination and Wage Gap
The Ombudsman considers it unacceptable that in the 21st century there continues to be employment discrimination and a wage gap between women and men. Fernández Marugán recalls that female employment rates continue to be lower than male rates, which implies a higher rate of unemployment among women. This clashes with the increasing job qualification of many women to whom the labor market does not offer an adequate response.
The Institution has found that women, in general, have more difficulties to access a job according to their qualifications and once they find a job they have to keep fighting to break the glass ceiling. The Ombudsman is particularly concerned about the lack of action to end the wage gap. The gender factor is still very significant in this matter and women continue to have lower wages and more precarious jobs.
In this context, the Ombudsman has stressed the need to continue implementing new conciliation measures so that women and men have equal conditions in the workplace and family. Fernández Marugán has ensured that “co-responsibility and flexibility must be a priority”.
Male Violence
The Ombudsman has shown his commitment in the fight against all forms of violence against women and has demanded more involvement of the administrations to end male violence. In addition, he stressed that the Institution is monitoring the State Pact against Gender-based Violence.
For Fernández Marugán “it is fundamental to reinforce and expand the egalitarian values and the obligatory affective-sexual education in all the educational levels since it is a very powerful tool in the fight against machismo and violent conducts”.
Non-sexist language
One of the fundamental pillars for gender equality is the use of non-sexist language. For this reason, the Institution monitors the uses of language that may have negative or pejorative connotations due to gender. Hence, he maintains open proceedings before the Secretary of State for Social Services and Equality to know the state in which the preparation and dissemination of a non-sexist language use manual is located.
