The acknowledgment that women are entitled to the same rights and opportunities as men in all spheres of society is a recent reality which has taken over the better part of the 20th century to attain, concordant with the advancement of the democratic principles of justice, liberty and equality, and bearing in mind the struggle carried on by women themselves in vindication of their rights.

In Spain, since 1977, considerable effort has gone into adapting the legal Ordinances to the principle of non-discrimination for reasons of sex. This effort has been expressed in various articles of the Spanish Constitution text of 1978.

The Directing Council of the Instituo de la Mujer ( Women's Institute ), comprising the representatives of 12 or the 17 existing Ministerial Departments and six committee members of non-governmental women's groups has served as the medium responsible for the interministerial policy in defence of women.

This policy became established for the first time with the approval of the First Plan of Equal Opportunities for Women in 1987, and since 1993, with the Second Plan of Equal Opportunities for Women 1993-1995.

Plan II gives priority to the promotion of a structural change of attitudes which would permit women to frrely develop and participate actively in the worlds of culture, labour and politics. The Plan includes 172 projects grouped according to the following ten areas of priority actions:

1. Application and development of legislation equal for all. These actions are geared to guarantee the application and development of existing legislation, and to raise the level of information/awareness regarding rights and duties.
2. Encourage the equal participation of women in the processes of preparation and transmission of knowledge.

The chief goal is to prevent in all institutionalized education the reproduction of sexist social models and concepts. The participation of the Ministry of Education and Science and its Secretaries of State, conducting the education reform process (LOGSE and LRU), adapting educational and professional option to the requirements of the labour market, and increasing the presence of women in educational decisions and in the technical areas where women have traditionally been under-represented, has been decisive.

1. Equal opprtunities for women's in the labour market. These are positive actions geared to reduce female unemployment, improve the quality of women's jobs and clear away the obstacles preventing women's access to employment.
2. To reproduce a social image of women corresponding to today's reality.

To promote changes in the world of communication which approximate women's image to present social reality, respecting her plurality, surmounting the traditionally cultural stereotypes and enhancing feminine values as positive and enriching for contemporary and future society.

1. To further a fair distribution of household chores. To encourage fair sharing of domestic and family tasks, these activities try to minimize the obstacles involved by promoting social awareness of equal distribution of household chores and it social value.
2. To augment women's social and political participation. In order to break down the barriers hindering women's integration into public life, it is necessary to promote both the incorporation of women in responsible positions and their associations from which they can work towards these goals.
3. To encourage women's access to decisive jobs. Plan II proposes to increase the presence of women in prominent economic and/or political position and in the decision making processes, with the aim of substituting the cultural stereotypes which prevent the best possible use of human capital in business and industry, and the professional development and promotion of women by means of more positive attitudes.
4. To improve sanitary aspects especially affecting women. The ambition is to give all women, regardless their social class, the opportunity to enjoy a healthy and satisfactory life, by permitting them access to the services of certain groups and thereby substituting medication in certain processes for which there exist alternative therapies.
5. The social assimilation of those groups of women affected by discrimination.

These actions are aimed towards progressive attainment of more personal autonomy, access to social rights and the participation in community life of certain groups of women (prostitutes, drug addicts, ex-convicts, single mothers, immigrants or women belonging to ethnic minorities, and the destitute) who, owing to personal, social or cultural circumstances, suffer discrimination.

1. To integrate policies of equality into an international framework. The success and efficiency of measures focused on promoting equal opportunities can only be assured within a framework complementary to the actions conducted by the European Commission and by each of its States. Lasting changes can be achieved only through participation in this arrangement.

The international projection of this Plan has a second aspect, expressed in the cooperation with Latin American countries and with other geographical areas.