SPAIN: On Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a new law on gender equality. This law will make sure that men and women are equally represented in business, politics, and other areas of public life. The Equal Representation Law will make sure that voting lists, corporate boards of directors, and governing bodies of professional organisations have the same number of men and women on them.
Sanchez made the declaration at a Socialist Party event ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8. It will be approved at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, and then it will be discussed in Parliament.
He said that Spain’s government was “not only taking a step in favour of feminism but in favour of Spanish society as a whole.” It is the most recent in a line of equality initiatives that the leftist coalition government has unveiled. Legislators passed a groundbreaking law governing sexual and reproductive health in December that, for the first time in a European nation, provided state-funded paid leave for women who experience painful periods. They also passed a bill protecting the rights of transgender people.
“If they represent half of society, half of the political and economic power has to be women’s,” Sanchez stated on Saturday.
As per the Equal Representation legislation, any listed business with more than 250 employees and a 50 million euro ($53 million) annual turnover must have 40% female management.
The law mandates that political parties run an equal number of male and female candidates in elections to improve gender parity in parliament. Today, women make up 44% of Congress and 39% of the Senate.
Additionally, it mandates that professional organizations’ boards must contain at least 40% women, as well as juries for any awards funded with public funds.
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