When equality in law must become equality in practice

By Gemma Arias Vasquez, Minister for Health, Care and Business

As this week draws to a close, I do so having returned from New York, where I attended the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations.

International Women’s Day is, of course, marked on one day each year, but in truth its meaning should extend far beyond a single date in the calendar. It should be reflected every day, in how we live our lives, in the choices we make and in the example we give to those around us.

Being at the United Nations was a reminder that conversations about equality are never static. They evolve because societies evolve, expectations evolve and because every generation has a responsibility to push progress further than the one before it.

International Women’s Day is often rightly a moment of celebration, but I have always felt it should also be a moment of honesty. Because while much has changed for women, in Gibraltar and beyond, no one can seriously say the work is finished.

It also invites a broader question: who are we as Gibraltarian women in 2026, and what defines us?

For me, that reflection inevitably brings me back to where my own professional life began. Before politics, I worked in law, as a solicitor, in a profession where, certainly when I started, many senior positions remained heavily male dominated, despite equal numbers of men and women joining at the outset. It taught me quickly that women often enter rooms knowing they will have to work that little bit harder than their male counterpart to be taken equally as seriously.

Politics, of course, is no different. It is hugely demanding and, at times, unforgiving. But it is also where representation probably matters most, because who sits around the decision-making table shapes not only the debate, but often the policies that follow.

Today in Gibraltar there are four women in Parliament out of seventeen Members, not forgetting, of course, our Speaker. Although that is an improvement on the previous Parliament, we should be honest enough to say that there is still some way to go. We still only represent 23.5% of Parliament, despite representing 50% of the population. Politics, like every other part of public life, should reflect the society it serves.

And as women who stand in Parliament, we should also ask ourselves what example we are portraying. Are we fostering a climate in which other women would want to join us? And if we are not, what more do we need to do?

One of the things I believe Gibraltar can be proud of is that over recent years we have continued to see women occupying increasingly senior positions across public life, across the public service and across sectors that historically were far less balanced than they are today. Not as token appointments, but as women who rightly deserve to be recognised in their professional capacity.

Under this Government, equality has increasingly been reflected in the appointments we make and in the seriousness with which issues affecting women are treated.

As a Government, we have strengthened protections in important areas, continued to develop legislation that recognises dignity and fairness, and seen women leading significant reform across many parts of Government and public administration.

Those legal protections matter enormously. But legal protections alone are not sufficient. Because equality is not only defined by legislation. It is also defined by the way we live our lives, by the example we give, and by the encouragement we offer other women along the way.

That matters because younger women notice it. They notice who leads. They notice who speaks. They notice who makes decisions. And they see whether we are proactive in assisting their progress. As Minister for Health, Care and Business, I see every day the extraordinary contribution women make across Gibraltar, particularly in areas like the GHA and the Care Agency, where women carry enormous professional responsibility every single day.

What experience has also taught me is that with all the legislation in the world, what women often need most in practice is trust, understanding and support from the people they work with and from those above them. A supportive team matters. A supportive manager matters. A supportive workplace culture matters.

Because there are moments in professional life that legislation cannot fully account for. The day your child is seriously ill. The day plans change unexpectedly. The day when you still intend to deliver what is expected of you but need those around you to understand that life has intervened.

Trust matters enormously in those moments. Trust that when a woman says she cannot do something today because family responsibility cannot wait, that this is not a lack of commitment, but simply the reality many women continue to navigate while carrying professional ambition. It is, however, a pact between the working women and those that manage them. Trust has to be earned, for it to be known that there will be circumstances where women will need that extra little bit of support and understanding, with the employers full knowledge they are not taking advantage. This is equity, its implications are different to equality.

Equality also has to be reflected in the home, in whether we are encouraging a culture in which responsibilities are genuinely shared, and in whether women feel supported to carry ambition without carrying every burden alone.

But it also requires something broader from society, particularly from men in positions of responsibility. It requires understanding that female ambition often carries pressures that are not always experienced in exactly the same way by men.

International Women’s Day should never only be about recognising what is visible today. It should also be about ensuring that systems continue to evolve so that opportunity remains real in the future. Because equality is not secured once and then left untouched. It requires continued attention and continued seriousness.

Being in New York for the Commission on the Status of Women reinforced that very strongly. When I heard women from across the world speak about barriers that remain, about rights still contested and about opportunities still denied, it was clear to me that progress must continue. Gibraltar may be small, but our voice in these discussions matters because these issues matter here too.

And if International Women’s Day means anything, it is that we should recognise the progress we have made but not mistake it for completion.

It is right that Gibraltar today has important legislative protections on equality. But we should also be asking ourselves whether they are fully translating into a more equal society in practice.

If they are not, is it because of the structures we still live within, the norms we continue to impose on ourselves, and if so, what more do we need to do to change that?

Because equality in law will only ever go so far if it is not matched by understanding in practice and by trust in workplaces. In my view, there is more to do and that is precisely why the conversation remains so important.