The Institute for the equality of women and men
The Institute for the equality of women and men was created in December 2002 as the autonomous federal public institution responsible for guaranteeing and promoting gender equality and to combat any form of gender-based discrimination and inequality by developing and implementing a fitting legal framework, structures, strategies, tools and actions. The Institute aims at anchoring gender equality as natural in society in our actions and mentalities.
The Institute consists of multiple units, each working in different domains, such as discrimination, sexism, intimate partner violence, the labour market, politics, gender mainstreaming, transgender issues, international issues, research… Its legal unit handles requests for information and complaints from gender discrimination victims.
How can the Institute help you?
By assisting you in legal matters
The Institute has a legal unit that handles all types of requests for information or complaints concerning discrimination based on a protected criterium such as sex or gender, as well as complaints made by transgender persons or complaints about sexism. The Institute can only handle cases that take place in Belgium. The case files are treated with complete confidentiality, free of charge and always with the permission of the victim. The legal unit offers advice and help in the context of conciliation or judicial procedures. It also gives opinions. A notification can be introduced by completing the notification form.
By making available various publications and by gathering gender-related statistics
The Institute provides citizens free of charge with a wide range of publications and studies on issues connected with gender equality such as domestic violence, pregnancy in the workplace, transgender issues, the wage gap, sexism,…
Publications available in English
The following publications are available for download. Some can also be ordered in a printed version.
The Institute
Gender mainstreaming
- Law on Gender mainstreaming of 12 January 2007
- Manual for the integration of the gender dimension in the allocation procedures for subsidies
- Checklist for the integration of the gender dimension in the allocation procedures for subsidies
- Manual for the application of gender mainstreaming within the Belgian federal administration
- Manual for the application of gender budgeting within the Belgian federal administration
- Acts of the cycle of seminars gender mainstreaming
- The notions of sex and gender (video)
- Gender mainstreaming (video)
Violence
- Emotional, physical and sexual abuse – the experiences of women and men
- Break the silence before it breaks you
- Notification code for reporting forced marriages for civil registrars
- The Sexual Assault Centres
- Toolkit recognition, detection and referral of signs of sexual violence in (Ukrainian) refugees
- Recommandation concerning the protection of Ukrainian refugees against sexual violence
- Estimation of the prevalence of girls and women who have undergone or are at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation in Belgium
- Young people about dick pics and possession of nude images without permission
- Deepnudes among young people in Belgium: the numbers, the market, the impact
Work
- Checklist gender neutrality in job evaluation and classification
- The gender pay gap in the member states of the European Union
- Eliminating the gender pay gap by law - Lessons learned in Belgium
- Promoting work-life balance for pregnant employees and working parents
- How to build a case on equal pay
- Toolkit Parents @ Work (EU project)
- Database 'Good Practices'