Women And The Law
Women And The Law
Through out the years there have been many factors that affect the operation of the legal system to help generate just outcomes for women. Historically, women have always held an inferior place to men, but during the 20th century this concept has changed considerably. The status of women has changed in terms of political suffrage, jury duty, economic rights, property rights, social security and minority groups. However, women still suffer disadvantages and to try to resolve particular problems women still confront legal and non-legal mechanisms. The mechanisms are used to resolve political and economic equality in accessing education, training development, gaining promotion, equal pay and sexual harassment. The legal and non-legal mechanism include trade unions, lobby groups, welfare groups and government agencies. Affirmative action and anti-discrimination legislation are also used to try to eliminate women being discriminated against and ensure just outcomes for the individual.
Women’s status under Australian law has changed considerably. Traditionally women have been child careers and homemakers with little activity or influence in public matters. Women are still often cast into these roles, although they now have far greater freedom to adopt other roles, such as working for an income.
In the current workplace women face many challenges and problems. In terms of legal protection women have been offered more opportunities for success that previously, but the attitudes of some parts of society still act to constrain women in the workplace. There have been several responses regarding the problems that women have faced in the workplace. The legal response has been to create laws that seek to protect women by making certain action illegal and requiring that employers behave in certain ways. Non-legal responses include trade unions education, training schemes and the training guarantee. However the extent the effectiveness of the non-legal and legal mechanisms have to generate just outcomes, has not yet fully been utilised.
The workplace is still dominated by gender bias. The human rights and equal opportunity commission (HREOC) defines it as ‘the belief that there exist unwritten language in the law which favours males over females’. It suggests that the law has been created by males and to a large degree excludes women and their experiences. In doing so the legal system does not adequately deal with the needs of women because it does not understand them. Sexual discrimination is another concern for women. It is defined by the HREOC as ‘being...