“GENDER EQUALITY” OR “GENDER EQUITY” AS A HUMAN RIGHT: AN ANALYSIS OF COLOMBIA’S PATH TOWARDS THE CHALLENGES OF THE 2030 AGENDA

Abstract

The struggle for gender equity or equality has acquired greater relevance in recent decades in Latin America, particularly in Colombia. However, it has had significant antecedents since colonial times. Its greatest expressions were initially revealed during the independence process and increased later with the consolidation of republican life, as other social and ideological contradictions intensified. Similarly, as the role of women in socio-economic, political, and cultural life has increased in this region, there has been a greater awareness that gender equality—given the natural differences between men and women that are not only biological but also related to societal functions—constitutes an abstract utopia. However, struggles for gender equality express a human right that is somewhat more achievable—no less utopian but certainly concrete.