Goods and services (Directive 2004/113)

AuthorBiljana Kotevska
Pages56-59
56
9 Goods and services (Directive 2004/113)135
9.1 General (legal) context
9.1.1 Surveys and reports about the difficulties linked to equal access to and supp ly of
goods and services
There are no particular issues around access to goods and services which relate specifically
to gender. There, is however, an issue with gender and race136 in relation to Roma women’s
access t o health services. Namely, the Women of the Šuto Orizari Initiative alerted the
public to the fact that the only gynaecologist operating in the largest Roma community
the municipality Šuto Orizari announced it was closing.137 This effectively means that
Roma women living in this municipality will once again n ot have equal access to h ealth
services and will be exposed to additional expenses in order to access s uch services.
9.1.2 Specific problems of discrimination in the online environment/digital
market/collaborative economy
There are no spe cific problems of discriminat ion in access to and supply of goods and
services in the online environment/digital market/collaborative economy . The online
market in the country is too small and underdeveloped, as is the collaborative economy,
for any specific issues in relation to it and for discrimination in access to and supply of
goods and services to arise.
9.1.3 Political and societal debate
There is no active debate.
9.2 Prohibition of direct and indirect discrimination
The Law on Equal Opportun ities for Men and Women as regards access to and supply of
goods and services transposes all articles of Directive 2004/113/E C. Article 3
(Implementation of the law) Paragraph 2 of this law specifies that public and private
entities providing goods an d services are responsible for the implementation of equal
treatment of men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services. Paragraph
п of the same Article ‘prohibits discrimination based on sex in access to goods and services
in the public and private sector, including discrimination in premiums from insuran ce
schemes. The personal scope related to th e access to and supply of goods and services
can be found in Chapter 4 of this Law (Entities responsible for adoption and implementation
of measures in establishing equal opportunities for wom en and men, and their duties).
Equality in the access to and supply of go ods and services on grounds of sex, gender and
gender identity is also provided for under th e Law on the Prevention of and Protection
against Discrimination (Article 3). This law contains a provision covering the particular
issue of accessibility of goods and services for people with disabilities, which is of relevance
for women with disabilities.
135 See e.g. Caracciolo di Torella, E. and McLellan, B. (2018), Gender equality and the collaborative economy,
European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination, available at
https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/4573-gender-equality-and-the-collaborative-economy-pdf-721-kb.
136 In the national context ethnicity is used for Roma, rather than race.
137 Women of Šuto Orizari Initiativeз ‘         
?’ г‘Will the women from Šuto Orizari be without access to a gynaecologist again?’дз
Emagazin.mk, available at: https://emagazin.mk/dali-zhenite-od-shuto-orizari-povtorno-e-ostanat-bez-
matichen-ginekolog/.

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