BRASILIA, Mar 9 (NNN-CMA) – Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, marked International Women’s Day yesterday, by announcing a bill legislating equal pay for women and men.
The proposal, part of a series of federal government measures, demands greater wage transparency from companies, and calls for more steps to combat wage discrimination.
“There was a time when Mar 8 was celebrated by giving women flowers, while the other 364 days were marked by discrimination, machismo and violence,” the president said, at an event at Planalto Palace, the presidential headquarters.
Brazil’s Consolidation of Labour Laws establishes equal pay for women and men doing the same job at a company, and imposes a fine, if discrimination is proven.
According to Lula, the major difference with existing laws is that, the new bill makes compliance “mandatory.”
“Gender equality will not appear overnight, but we have to speed up the process. If it were up to this government, inequality would end today with a simple decree, but it is difficult to change a whole system built to perpetuate male privilege,” he said.
The wage gap between women and men, which had been narrowing until 2020, grew again to reach 22 percent by the end of 2022, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.– NNN-CMA
