Moving towards a more egalitarian society

Unlike other special dates in our calendar, on this occasion we are invited to question ourselves on how we relate to each other, to reflect on what rights each one of us has and what we do to tend to a more fair society.

At Marval we are convinced that regulatory and case-law evolution is essential to promote equality of rights.

In these brief lines we will identify recent developments in different fields of law in our country, which we understand will contribute to increase women's rights and, consequently, to generate a more egalitarian and inclusive society.

The following is a detail of relevant regulations and rulings that represent progress in this process:

• At the national level, through the regulation of Decree 7/2019, the Law of Ministries (Law 22,520) was amended, and the Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity of the Nation began to operate as of December 11, 2019. Additionally, following the enactment of Decree 680/2020, the National Cabinet for the Mainstreaming of Gender Policies was created within the Office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers, which aims to ensure the incorporation of the gender perspective in the design and implementation of national public policies.
• At the provincial and municipal level, Resolution 108/2020 of the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity regulated the entry into force of the GenerAR Program. This program seeks to promote the creation of gender and diversity areas and to strengthen existing areas by encouraging their institutional hierarchization and consolidation at all levels of the government and throughout the country.
• In the corporate sphere, General Resolution IGJ 34/2020 (subsequently amended by General Resolution IGJ 35/2020) stipulated that civil associations, simple associations, corporations -insofar as they are included in some of the cases provided for in Article 299 of Law No. 19,550-, foundations with a temporary and elective board of directors and state-owned companies (Law No. 20,705) must include in their administrative body and, if applicable, in their supervisory body, a composition that respects gender diversity. Thus, it was established that the referred bodies must be composed of: (i) in the case of an even composition, by the same number of women as men; (ii) in the case of an odd composition, with a minimum of one third of women. Notwithstanding the fact that certain practical implications of this resolution may be criticized and that it could be improved, we believe that the discussion of these proposals is a step forward.
• Regarding the capital markets, through Joint Resolution No. 21029/2021 of the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity and the Argentine National Securities Commission, these agencies introduced guidelines to contribute to the reduction of the gaps and segmentations that constitute structural inequality between genders. The Resolution includes a "Guide of recommendations for gender equality in the capital markets" recommending and stressing the importance of achieving gender-diverse boards of directors for companies under the public offering regime.
• In the banking area, on November 12, 2020, the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA after its Spanish acronym) issued Communication "A" 7162, which stipulated that financial entities must avoid practices or actions that reflect or promote stereotyped and hierarchical views of gender, androcentrism, sexist language, media and/or symbolic violence against women.
• In labor matters, new regulations and rulings were issued. An important step forward for Argentina was the enactment of Law 27,580 in December 2020, which approved the Convention on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work, adopted by the General Conference of the International Labor Organization. In line with this, Resolution 220/2020 of the Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity created the National Program for Gender Equality in Labor, Employment and Production "Igualar" within the scope of the Undersecretariat of Equality Policies, whose general objective is to reduce the gaps and segmentations that make up the structural inequality in the world of labor, employment and production for women, from an intersectional and human rights perspective. On the other hand, Decree of Need and Urgency 475/2021 was enacted, which granted women in the last year of pregnancy the possibility of requesting that the time dedicated to the care of minors be computed to access retirement and, in this way, count when reaching the minimum of 30 years of service with contributions to the social security system.

Likewise, in October 2021, the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice, in "Etcheverry, Juan Bautista y otros c/ EN s/ amparo ley 16.986", ordered the Executive Branch to regulate the obligation of companies to provide day care centers and maternity wards established in the Labor Contract Law. Although the regulation has not yet been enacted, we are pleased that certain companies have adopted these measures on their own.

• In bankruptcy proceedings, in the case "Fundación Educar s/ concurso preventivo", the National Court of Appeals in Commercial Matters (Chamber F) declared: (i) the intangibility of the verified credit in favor of the child K.M., based on a judicial indemnity for sexual abuse; and (ii) that K.M. could opt for the collection of her credit in U.S. dollars. In so deciding, the Court noted that since it was an "unsecured" claim from the strict perspective of the Argentine Bankruptcy Law, K.M.'s claim (AR$ 22,744,744,000) was denominated in U.S. dollars and that K.M.'s claim was denominated in U.S. dollars. (AR$ 22,744,766.18) would have been drastically reduced (AR$ 9,784,342.50) due to the effects of the debtor's reorganization proceeding. The Court considered that such a scenario would violate the "special, higher, priority and effective protection granted to girls who are victims of gender violence" and would also cause the revictimization of K.M. The decision was based mainly on the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women.
• In the criminal sphere, on September 23, 2021, Argentina signed a friendly settlement agreement before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) with Abril Rosales, daughter of Ivana, a victim of gender violence. The process initiated in 2003 in which the Neuquén justice system revictimized her through discriminatory actions. Among other irregularities, the conviction of Ivana's aggressor was based on "exceptional mitigating circumstances" that reduced his sentence, based on stereotyped motives and in violation of international commitments assumed by Argentina.
• Regarding the Argentine Judicial Branch and on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which was commemorated on November 25, 2021, the Women's Office of the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice presented the first compilation of sentences with a gender perspective in Argentina. This is a great advance at the jurisprudential level, as it brings together judicial rulings that recognize and grant rights to women.

Finally, despite the fact that, according to the COVID-19 Special Report N⁰9: "Women's Economic Autonomy in Sustainable and Equal Recovery" of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the pandemic has widened the gender gap between men and women in Latin America and the Caribbean, we highlight that Argentina is the country that implemented the most policies to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, which was explicitly recognized in a report where it is noted that the local response was "exemplary" in the region (COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker of the United Nations Development Program). 26 gender-sensitive measures were identified: 13 to address violence against women and girls, 8 for women's economic security and 5 focused on responding to those who provide unpaid care work.

At Marval O'Farrell Mairal we are firmly committed to taking an active role in the promotion and preservation of women's rights and equal rights not only through the Diversity Committee, which actively promotes the different D&I actions, but also through the individual and collective commitment of our members. We can see evidence of concrete progress such as the appointment of female partners to leadership positions within the Firm, the adoption of a longer paternity leave than that granted by the Labor Contract Law, flexible hours for parents during the children's first week of school, special  facilities at our offices for breastfeeding mothers, business development workshops for women and Webinars for parents with the challenges of reconciling remote work and home schooling. More recently, we have started a post-maternity leave coaching program to help women upon their return to work after maternity leave.

We are convinced that regulatory and case-law evolution is essential to progress towards parity of rights, but it is not enough. It must be accompanied by a strong commitment and concrete personal and institutional actions that we undertake and encourage to be undertaken. Marval firmly believes in diversity as a transforming factor that makes our firm a better place to work and develop.