A odisseia dos direitos fundamentais : sobre a igualdade entre mulheres e homens e a conciliação da vida laboral e familiar no direito espanhol

Abstract

Incorporation of women in public space was one of the biggest revolutions in the western world in the XX century, being women responsible for more than half of the European workforce at the present time. This revolution was both quantitative, given the number of women who gained access into the job market, and qualitative, due to the depth of the changes it caused. However, such revolution has not been thoroughly completed, even in the job market, as there have still been new and old ideas regarding gender inequality, discrimination, marginalization and exclusion. Furthermore, both the access and the permanence of women in the job market require from women the capacity of conciliating their family and work life, a conflicting reality in synchronous times of difficult compatibility. This doctoral study will reveal the heterogeneity and polyhedral essence of the conciliation and, consequently, the legal difficulties, not to build it as a fundamental right – as it is understood by the Spanish Legislation – but to build it as an effective right.