Ministry of Equality (Spain)


The Ministry of Equality is a department of the Government of Spain responsible for the proposal and execution of the government's policy on equality, with a focus on making the equality between men and women real and effective as well as prevention and eradication of different forms of violence against women. The department's roles also include eradication of all kind of discrimination by sex, racial and ethnic origin, religion or ideology, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability or any other personal or social condition or circumstances. It existed from 2008 to 2010 when it merged with the Ministry of Health, and then from 2020.

History

The department was created in 2008 at the second term of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's second term in order to promote equality policies set forth in the 2007 Equality Act and in the 2004 Comprehensive Act on Violence against Women, as well as promoting the programs of the Institute of Women and the Institute of Youth. The Ministry assumed the powers on equality that belonged at that time to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, which was renamed Ministry of Labour and Immigration.
The Prime Minister chose Bibiana Aído to head this new department. She became the first person to hold this position in Spain and the youngest person to hold a ministerial office in democracy.
On 21 October 2010, a cabinet reshuffle merged the Ministry of Equality in the Ministry of Health and in exchange the Secretariat of State for Equality was created. Aído accepted the offer of the prime minister to continue at the forefront of the equality policies as Secretary of State.
The department was reestablished on 13 January 2020.

Organization chart and key people

Current structure (2020–)

The current structure of the Department is:
The Department of Equality, in its first period, was integrated by two main bodies:
The department also managed the following agencies and bodies: