Preface

• Pages: 9-10
• Author: Francisca Pérez-Madrid

9

GENDER EQUALITY AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE 2030 AGENDA:

TEN POLICY BRIEFS

Francisca Pérez-Madrid (coord.)

Dykinson, Madrid, 2026

PREFACE

Francisca Pérez-Madrid

Full Professor of Law, Universitat de Barcelona

Contemporary democratic societies face a complex and multifaceted challenge: how

to ensure, in an integrated manner, gender equality, freedom of religion or belief, and

pluralism in contexts marked by increasing cultural and moral diversity. This challen-

ge extends beyond theory and is increasingly visible across key areas of social life, re-

quiring not only conceptual reection but also more eective public policy tools.

This volume is situated at the intersection of these tensions. It is grounded in a simple

yet demanding premise: gender equality and freedom of religion or belief are funda-

mental rights of equal status, and their coexistence cannot be resolved through abs-

tract hierarchies. As emphasized in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

(1993), human rights are universal, indivisible, and interdependent. They must there-

fore be interpreted together, in light of both their interrelation and the concrete condi-

tions in which they are exercised.

From this perspective, human dignity requires that rights be understood as part of a

coherent whole. Their meaning becomes fully apparent only when considered in rela-

tion to the lived realities of individuals. Protecting one right should not imply suppres-

sing another; rather, it calls for institutional and normative solutions that make their

coexistence possible in practice.

At the same time, law cannot be reduced to the outcome of shifting balances of power

or contingent agreements. It is ultimately grounded in the intrinsic dignity of the hu-

man person. Within this framework, freedom of religion is not a marginal concern but

a constitutive dimension of human rights, inseparable from pluralism. Yet pluralism

must not be confused with relativism: diversity of convictions can only be sustained

within a shared framework based on respect for dignity and fundamental rights.

This approach is closely aligned with the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development. In particular, SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), and

SDG 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions) reinforce the need for integrated approa-

ches to fundamental rights. Achieving these goals requires ensuring equality, freedom,

and respect for religious and belief diversity within open and democratic societies.

The responsibility of public authorities, therefore, lies in designing institutional me-

chanisms that allow for the joint exercise of fundamental rights. This requires avoiding

both the systematic prioritization of certain rights over others and overly reductive

approaches that fail to capture the complexity of pluralism.

The contributions in this volume build on earlier research developed in Género, re-

ligión y derechos fundamentales: Nuevos desafíos jurídicos [Gender, Religion and

Fundamental Rights: New Legal Challenges] (Dykinson, 2026), which provided the

theoretical foundations for the issues addressed here. The present volume takes a fur-