Gender Equality Act

Ireland's far reaching equality legislation included the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equal Status Act 2000.

In addition to the Employment Equality Act and the Equal Status Act he had just mentioned, equality was promoted by an Equality Authority.

Based on the Gender Equality Act the Gender Equality Council will be established.

The Gender Equality Act stipulates an obligation of employers actively to promote gender equality.

The Gender Equality Act provides for the creation of a new institution the Gender Equality Commissioner.

Two new institutions will be created according to the Act Gender Equality Commissioner and Gender Equality Council.

On 1 May 2004 the Gender Equality Act entered into force.

Necessary legal grounds and responsible institutions are provided for in the Gender Equality Act.

Following the enactment of the Equality Act 2004, he had sought legal advice with regard to the reservation on article 11, paragraph 1, which was being maintained because of very limited exclusions in the Employment Equality Act 1998.

The Gender Equality Act also protects against the use of counter measures by the employer.

The Gender Equality Act provides that an employer has to collect gender based statistical data concerning employment.

Ireland's Equality Act had fewer exclusions in the 2004 revision than it had had in earlier legislation.

The Gender Equality Commissioner has the duty to monitor the compliance with the norms established in the Act.

The Gender Equality Council approves the general guidelines of gender equality policy, consults the Government on issues of strategy for the promotion of gender equality and presents to the Government its position on the conformity with the Gender Equality Act of national programmes submitted by the ministries.

The Gender Equality Commissioner is an independent and impartial expert who monitors compliance with the requirements set out in the Gender Equality Act and gives opinions regarding complaints submitted by persons.

According to the Gender Equality Act an injured party may demand compensation for damage and termination of the harmful activity.

The right to equal conditions and selection criteria in employing men and women is established in the Gender Equality Act.

In such cases the court may award compensation based not only on the Gender Equality Act but also on other acts.

The Gender Equality Act establishes the duty of the employer to ensure that employees do not become victims of sexual harassment.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 provided the single greatest legislative victory in the African American struggle for political equality and democratic voice.

The Gender Equality Act sets out the prohibition of discrimination based on sex and the obligation to promote equal treatment for men and women.

The Committee welcomes the enactment of a comprehensive legislative framework on anti discrimination, which includes the Employment Equality Act 1998, the Equal Status Act 2000 and the Equality Act 2004, and notes with satisfaction that legislation to implement Council Directive 2000 43 EC of 29 June 2000, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin in employment, education, social protection and access to goods and services, is currently before Parliament.

The Gender Equality Act sets out the right of a person to protect his or her constitutional right not to be discriminated based on sex.

Estonia has not drafted the law on temporary special measures recommended by the Committee. The Gender Equality Act already contains a number of special measures.

No changes have occurred as compared to the last report, except for the entry into force of the Gender Equality Act on 1 May 2004.

The General Education Act, which established equal access, gender equality and non discrimination in education, had been a major step forward for formal education in Paraguay.

According to the Gender Equality Act an official of the structural unit of the Ministry of Social Affairs which deals with gender equality provides consultation to all persons on matters related to implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women.

Turning to the Conference's impact on Estonia, she said that the most important step had been the adoption in 2004 of the Gender Equality Act, which explicitly prohibited direct and indirect discrimination and obliged authorities and employers to promote gender equality, thus strengthening the legal basis for promoting de jure and de facto gender equality in the country.

According to the Gender Equality Act a person can claim damages for discrimination in cases when his or her right not to be discriminated against has been violated.

The Gender Equality Act is the first of its kind in Estonia and clarifies terms such as gender equality, equal treatment for men and women, direct and indirect discrimination based on sex and it also stipulates grounds for the promotion of equal treatment for men and women.

According to the Gender Equality Act burden of proof has been partially placed upon a person against whom the application, complaint or petition about discrimination based on sex is submitted.

The RS Gender centre initiated changes to the RS Law on Employment and Law on Pension Disability Insurance, thus incorporating provisions of the state Gender Equality Law relating to obligation on competent Law implementation authorities to comply with the gender equality and act in a non discriminatory fashion.

The employers have the obligation to inform employees of the rights guaranteed to them by the Gender Equality Act and regularly provide relevant information to employees and or their representatives concerning equal treatment for men and women in the organisation and measures taken in order to promote equality.

The Gender Equality Act defines the term discrimination against women , which had so far been absent in the existing laws of Estonia and concerning which the Committee had earlier expressed concern.

The Chancellor of Justice examined during his investigation whether such practice of the school is in conformity with the prohibition of discrimination established in the Constitution, and with the Gender Equality Act.

Yet equality before the law was not the same as equality in rights or gender equality.

When the Gender Equality Act was debated in the Parliament, a campaign was organised to send letters to the members of the Parliament, and a similar campaign was organised to implement measures to combat prostitution.

Laws alone would not lead to true equality and therefore the Government had to act urgently to address cultural practices that were in conflict with the law, perhaps starting with surveys of the actual situation.

In the Libreville seminar organized to implement the Beijing Platform for Action, gender equality had been a main concern and one of the priorities had been to establish the Observatory for Women's Rights and Equality, which under Act No. 1 of 2000 had to receive adequate government funding to allow it to carry out its work independently.

Besides the establishment of the mechanism for the protection of people's rights, the Gender Equality Act also created a basis for two main strategies the implementation of measures for giving special advantages to the underrepresented sex or measures helping to reduce inequality, and the implementation of gender equality as a horizontal policy inherent in all other policies.

The protection of maternity in Estonia is guaranteed by the Employment Contracts Act, the Public Service Act, the Working and Rest Time Act, the Holidays Act, the Health Insurance Act, the Social Tax Act, the Child Benefits Act and the State Pension Insurance Act.

As a general provision, the Gender Equality Act provides that direct and indirect discrimination based on sex is prohibited in all areas of social life. Specifically, discrimination in professional life is prohibited (see also Article 11).

Stimulating Equality

Gender equality