On 8 March, the Government joins in the commemoration of International Women’s Day. It approves an institutional declaration in which it ratifies its commitment to real and effective equality between men and women, in the fight against sexist violence and in defence of women’s full autonomy. It also launches the campaign ‘Our Voice. Louder. Clearer. Louder. Stronger’.
International Women’s Day 2025
Under the slogan ‘For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment’, the international community is calling for the expansion of equal rights, power and opportunities for all women.
For its part, the Government of Spain has approved an institutional declaration in which it celebrates the progress achieved in this area and renews its commitment to real and effective equality, the fight against sexual and gender-based violence, freedom, personal autonomy and the security of women.
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8M: International Women’s Day
The document notes that 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as a roadmap for the advancement of women’s rights worldwide. It also highlights that this year marks 50 years of freedom in Spain and recalls the situation that women experienced during the dictatorship, where they were relegated to the domestic sphere and stripped of civil and political rights.
The declaration welcomes the recent renewal of the State Pact against Gender Violence, recognises the role of the women’s movement and women’s associations and affirms that no democracy can be considered complete if half of its population cannot exercise and realise their rights equally.
In addition, the Ministry of Equality has promoted the campaign ‘Our Voice. Louder. Louder. Louder. Stronger’, which focuses on unity, firmness and voice as an instrument of vindication, dialogue, conviction and transformation. It is a call for women’s unity and empowerment to continue advancing in the struggle for equality.
What does International Women’s Day commemorate?
International Women’s Day commemorates women’s struggle to eliminate all forms of discrimination, regardless of its form or status, in all spheres of life, particularly in the political, civil, labour, economic, social and cultural spheres.
When is International Women’s Day celebrated?
The General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation, meeting on 16 December 1977, officially declared 8 March of each year International Women’s Rights Day with the aim of visualising the struggle of women to participate in all spheres of life on an equal footing with men.
Its origins lie in the demonstrations and protests staged by women since the beginning of the 20th century, especially in the United States and in several European countries, demanding the right to vote, better working conditions, better pay and equality between women and men.
What is the principle of equality?
Equality between women and men is a universal legal principle recognised in various international human rights texts, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
In turn, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015 by the United Nations, incorporates the commitment to gender equality as a cross-cutting objective and is a key element in national policies, budgets and institutions.
Equality is also a fundamental principle of the European Union. Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999, equality between women and men and the elimination of inequalities has been an objective to be mainstreamed in all policies and actions of the Union and its members. It is now a fundamental European value enshrined in the Treaty on European Union, in its Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Equality in the Spanish Constitution
In Spain, the Constitution recognises the right to equality and non-discrimination on grounds of sex and enshrines the obligation of the public authorities to promote the conditions for the equality of the individual and of the groups of which they form part to be real and effective.
On the other hand, the Organic Law for Effective Equality between women and men establishes a legal framework to achieve equal treatment between women and men eliminate discrimination on grounds of sex, and emphasise the prevention of discriminatory behaviour.
Government objectives to advance towards equality in Spain
The Government claims that equality means an improvement in the lives of all people, whether they are women or men. In this sense, it has promoted measures to achieve an equitable and balanced society, where gender gaps are overcome.
The Executive’s actions have focused on the introduction of gender mainstreaming in all public policies and approved regulations, the preparation of gender impact reports, the appointment and balanced designation of public officials and the promotion of leave linked to the reconciliation of personal, family and working life.
What are the latest actions on equality?
State Pact against Gender Violence: On 26 March 2025, the Congress of Deputies approved the new State Pact against Gender Violence, a document with 462 measures that goes deeper into the forms of violence against women contemplated in the previous pact, such as sexual violence or trafficking for sexual exploitation, and introduces new axes: vicarious, economic and digital violence.
Equal pay: On 18 February 2025, the Council of Ministers approved an institutional declaration on the occasion of Equal Pay Day, which was commemorated on 22 February. The text warns of the danger of ‘false narratives’ and considers that ‘combating misinformation and promoting a rigorous analysis of reality is crucial to progress towards real and effective equality of opportunities between women and men’. The document also refers to the Government’s progress in reducing the pay gap between men and women and reflects that in 2024 the figure of 10 million women in work was reached.
The Executive will continue to develop and promote measures that will enable progress to be made in eliminating the pay gap between women and men throughout the legislature. For example, the future reduction in working hours without a reduction in salary will favour a balanced distribution of care tasks.
Parity Law: The Organic Law on equal representation and balanced presence of women and men, also known as the Parity Law, published on 2 August in the Official State Gazette, aims to guarantee the effective representation of women in decision-making areas of social, political and economic life. The text places Spain at the forefront of equality and advances in the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda.
In the electoral field, ‘zip lists’ will be mandatory. In other words, candidacies must be made up of women and men, arranged alternately.
The principle of balanced representation, whereby neither sex may hold less than 40% of the seats, applies to members of the Council of Ministers, constitutional bodies and senior and executive bodies of the General State Administration, professional associations, collegiate bodies and boards of directors of large listed companies, among others.
that has become an essential, cross-cutting and distinctive element of Spanish cooperation for sustainable development from the perspective of promoting gender equality and contributing to reducing inequalities between men and women in our partner countries.
Other recent actions: The Government has increased the number of Violet Points, which provide information on how to act in cases of gender-based violence, by placing them in Social Security offices, Government delegations and Paradores de España. In addition, 54 24-hour crisis centres have been opened. In the last year, the VioGén 2 system has also been implemented, which improves coordination in the comprehensive follow-up of cases of gender-based violence.
Other measures with an impact on equality in Spain
Initiatives aimed at the whole of Spanish society, such as the increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage, the increase in grants or the approval of the Minimum Living Income have mostly benefited women and have reduced the gender gap by 6.83 points in the decade 2012-2022.
In fact, in 2024, for the first time, the number of working women will exceed ten million, and 65.8% of the total number of beneficiaries of the increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage will be women.
On the other hand, the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) incorporates measures aimed at raising the female employment rate; improving, strengthening and reorganising the long-term care system; raising educational potential; advancing equal opportunities and reducing the digital divide.
The regulations with the greatest impact on gender equality were the following:
In fact, in 2024, for the first time, the number of working women will exceed ten million, and 65.8% of the total number of beneficiaries of the increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage will be women.
On the other hand, the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) incorporates measures aimed at raising the female employment rate; improving, strengthening and reorganising the long-term care system; raising educational potential; advancing equal opportunities and reducing the digital divide.
The regulations with the greatest impact on gender equality were the following:
In the fight against violence against women, Spain has spearheaded legislative initiatives which, over the last two decades, have laid the foundations for the construction of a state and international architecture of remedies for all victims.
In the field of employment, labour reform has made it possible to reduce temporary employment among the most affected group, that of women. In addition, the Employment Act considers women with low qualifications and victims of gender-based violence as priority groups. Also noteworthy is the approval of the Royal Decree-Law for the improvement of working conditions and Social Security for domestic workers, which was necessary to correct the regulatory deficiencies that undervalued a job historically carried out mainly by women.
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