Is the notion of Equality really suitable?

In the International Day of Women a question raises: “ Is the notion of Equality really suitable?”

The article tries to provide an inspiration on how to go beyond in the fight for women's rights.

Today, in the International Day of Women, when all the main international organizations and local civil society organise events and posts million of powerful sentences on Equality, we are asking if the notion is truly suitable to embrace the fight for women's rights.

According the UN, gender equality is "The concept that women and men, girls and boys have equal conditions, treatment and opportunities for realizing their full potential, human rights and dignity, and for contributing to (and benefitting from) economic, social, cultural and political development."

UN considers women's rights a priority as proven by the fact that it has several agencies dealing with gender issues (UNWomen, UNICEF, UNFPA, among others).

It also incapsulated the needs and rights of girls and women in Goal 5: Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and cut across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

"No equality can be reached without justice"

Anyway, despite international bodies and theorists warn that equality doesn't mean erasing difference between sexes, but having equal opportunities and rights in society, the notion is still unclear and causes misunderstandings in common audience.

In addition, it is not fully comprehensive so it needs other concepts to be used in order to complete the semantic field of women's rights fulfillment, in particular: substantive equality, fight against gender-based violence and gender equity, the latter producing an understandable confusion with equality.

What is suggested here is to shift from Gender Equality to Gender Justice.

That's not about synonims or mere intellectual speculation.

That's about clarity and comprehension.

That's about having the focus not only on our objective (equality) but also on the means and the path to achieve it.

No equality can be reached without justice.

The concept of Gender Justice embraces not only equal opportunities in society but also the issue of violence against women and the urgency to create an efficient system to protect victims and punish perpetrators properly.

Last but not least, as it is not just a statement but a proce, Gender Justice increases the focus on specific measures and tools for women to enjoy real equal opportunities, urging institutional stakeholders (States, international bodies and local authorities) not only to embed notions in their laws and Constitutions but also - and especially - to elaborate concrete solutions and methods to close the gap that make achieving fairness and equality impossible.