ABSTRACT

This chapter explores those equality strategies, namely positive action and mainstreaming — which attempt to address the deep-seated causes of gender inequality. The ability of laws based on the concept of equal treatment to tackle gender inequality is very limited. Measures which usually go under the description, 'positive action', are to be found in each of the states featured in Making Women Count and have also figured in the European Union's equal opportunities strategy. The failure of positive action initiatives to address and remove the deep-seated causes of gender equality has meant that the search for alternatives has continued. It is perhaps an indication of mainstreaming's potential to promote gender equality that, despite its recent appearance, each of the states featured in Making Women Count had some procedure in place which fell within the definition of mainstreaming. Other states featured in Making Women Count had devised procedures with the apparent intention of integrating gender into the policy-making process.