With entry into force on March 28, Legislative Decree 1/2023, of March 16, approves the consolidated text of the Law for the Equality of Women and Men and Lives Free of Sexist Violence against Women, in accordance with the provisions in the last eighth provision of Law 1/2022, of March 3, of the second modification of the Law for the Equality of Women and Men.
This decree establishes the general principles that must govern the actions of the Basque public authorities in matters of gender equality, through a set of measures aimed at promoting and guaranteeing equal opportunities and treatment for women and men in all areas around the city. life and, in particular, to promote the empowerment of women, their autonomy and the strengthening of their social, economic and political position in order to eliminate structural inequality and all forms of discrimination based on sex, including sexist violence against women
skills and organization
The regulation distributes the competences and functions in matters of equality between women and men between the Administration of the Autonomous Community, the Foral Administrations and the local Administration.
Within the organization, regulated:
– Equality bodies, with the Emakunde-Basque Institute for Women being the body in charge of promoting, advising, planning and evaluating equality policies for women and men in the Autonomous Community, including those relating to sexist violence against women. Likewise, the foral and local administrations, within the scope of their self-organization powers, have to adapt their structures so that there is in each one of them at least one entity, body or administrative unit that is responsible for promoting, planning, advice and evaluation of equality policies for women and men in their territorial surroundings of action, including those related to sexist violence against women.
– The units for the equality of women and men, which must exist in each department of the Administration of the Autonomous Community, to be in charge of promoting, coordinating and collaborating with the different directions and areas of the department and with the autonomous bodies, public entities and bodies attached to it.
– The coordination bodies, creating the Inter-Institutional Commission for the Equality of Women and Men as the body in charge of coordinating the policies and programs that, in matters of equality between women and men, are developed by the regional, regional and local Administration. This commission will be chaired by the Director of Emakunde.
And with respect to financing, it has the text that the Basque public administrations must integrate the gender perspective in their public budgets, particularly in their design phase, so that they are sensitive to the different needs of women and men and that they contribute to promoting equality and eliminating inequalities based on sex. After all, it will be necessary to establish the corresponding directors for its realization, orientation and evaluation, as well as the appropriate qualification processes.
proposed measures
Within this area, the law contemplated the approval by the Basque Government of a general plan that received in a coordinated and global manner the lines of intervention and guidelines that should guide the activity of the Basque public authorities in terms of equality between women and men. In developing it, the departments of the Basque Government will prepare each legislature their own action plans, endowed with the necessary human, economic and material resources for their effective implementation.
The creation of the Basque Observatory for the Equality of Women and Men was contemplated as an instrument to provide a global and permanent vision of the situation and evolution of the equality of women and men in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi and that would allow evaluating the impact of the actions carried out by public Basques in this field.
As regards the staff, the regulation contemplates the adoption of necessary measures for the basic, progressive, permanent and compulsory training in matters of equality between women and men and the gender perspective of all its staff.
Likewise, it includes measures that promote equality in regulations and administrative activity, both in the preparation and application of regulations and plans, programs and other instruments for the formulation of public policies, in contracts, subsidy programs and administrative acts, as well as as well as in selection and jury processes, in public procurement and subsidies and in sectorial and strategic plans.
Measures to promote equality
The text includes a series of measures to promote equality in the following areas of intervention:
– Sociopolitical participation: the duty of the Basque public authorities and public administrations to ensure that there is a balanced presence of women and men with training, competence and adequate preparation.
– Culture and the media: measures must be adopted to avoid any discrimination based on sex and promote a balanced access and participation of women and men in all cultural activities that take place within the Autonomous Community, prohibiting any activity that does not allow or hinder the participation of women on equal terms with men.
– Education: real equality between men and women must be promoted at all educational levels and stages and in all its dimensions (curricular, organizational and others, and university).
With regard to employment, they must promote the conditions so that equal opportunities and treatment of women and men are real and effective, both in the conditions of access to work as an account or employee, as well as in the conditions of work, training, promotion, remuneration and termination of the contract. The employment services that intervene in the different phases of the process of accompaniment to labor insertion may not process any offer of employment that is discriminatory on the grounds of sex.
– Co-responsible conciliation: the Basque public administrations must facilitate the reconciliation of personal, family and work life through the promotion of the co-responsibility of men in domestic work and unpaid care, the adequacy of the structures of l' employment to the obligations and needs of personal and family life, the universal and public provision of care, financial benefits and tax measures, as well as any other measure deemed appropriate for this purpose.
– Sexist violence against women: the Basque public powers must guarantee a life free of sexist violence against women (autonomous).
-Equality and non-discrimination based on sex in the private sector: the functions corresponding to the Emakunde-Basque Women's Institute in this area are determined, which should not enter into the individual examination of complaints referring to the area of privacy of persons or of those on whom a final judgment has been handed down or are pending judicial resolution. The action must also be suspended if, once it has started, it is filed by the interested person sued or appeals before the ordinary courts or the Constitutional Court.
