Oldal 30 [30]
IZOLDA TAKÁCS: THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY
WHY IS THERE EVEN A NEED FOR POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION?
However, in addition to the need for freedom in all areas and the reguirement
for egual treatment, there are areas where some legislators felt the need for
positive discrimination in order to ensure that fundamental rights were not
undermined.
In this way, the conventions on discrimination that have already adopted
positive discrimination have played an important role in the UN’s human rights
work. Particularly in the areas of economics, social law and racial discrimina¬
tion (e.g. CERD -— Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination).
The provisions on positive discrimination primarily concerned the protection
of minorities, and regulations about women cannot be considered as such under
the auspices of international conventions on the protection of minorities. It
should nonetheless be noted that women, while not really belonging to a minority,
have a political minority identity, like other members of lower status groups,
“identified with the" common destiny “created by discrimination and efforts
[...]’"° In other words, “the situation of women is sociologically comparable to
other socially disadvantaged groups.” As a result, they are, in some respects,
similarly affected by the need for positive discrimination as other minority
groups. Legislators have therefore decided to accept positive discrimination to
remedy past negative discrimination in women’s cases where appropriate.
Positive discrimination relative to women is enshrined, inter alia, in Article
119 (4) of the Treaty of Amsterdam, Article 141 TEC, now Article 157 (4) TFEU.
In other words, States Parties may, in addition to the principle of equal treat¬
ment, maintain or adopt measures to the benefit of certain persons in order
to make it easier for the underrepresented sex to pursue a professional activ¬
ity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in their careers.** This arti¬
cle has been taken up in a shorter form by Article 23 of the Charter of Funda¬
mental Rights of the European Union.
In the spirit of this Treaty (Article 119 (2) and (3) and (4) of the Treaty on Eu¬
ropean Union, “Equality between women and men must be ensured in all areas,
including employment, work and pay. The principle of equality shall not prevent
the maintenance or adoption of measures providing for specific advantages in
4
a
Kovács: Nemzetközi jog, 375.
Becker—Wagner quoted by Kovács, M. — Szabó, M.: Társadalmi nem és szexizmusok: a nemi
hierarchiát igazoló nézetrendszerek elfogadása és elutasítása, in Kovács, M. (ed.): Társadalmi
nemek: elméleti megközelítések és kutatási eredmények, Budapest, ELTE Eötvös, 2017, 39—57, 41.
Neményi guoted in Acsády, J.: , Megtettük-e azt, amit az eszményeink szerint meg kellett
volna, hogy tegyünk?" Az államszocializmus demokratikus ellenzékének elmaradt nőeman¬
cipáció-reflexióiról, socio.hu. Társadalomtudományi Szemle, 6(2), 2016, 176.
Monori: Esélyegyenlőség. 158.
4
a
4
S
48
+ 28 +