Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

The feminine genius is needed in all expressions in the life of society, therefore the presence of women in the workplace must also be guaranteed. The first indispensable step in this direction is the concrete possibility of access to professional formation. The recognition and defence of women's rights in the context of work generally depend on the organization of work, which must take into account the dignity and vocation of women, whose “true advancement ... requires that labour should be structured in such a way that women do not have to pay for their advancement by abandoning what is specific to them”.^{636John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 19: AAS 73 (1981), 628.} This issue is the measure of the quality of society and its effective defence of women's right to work. The persistence of many forms of discrimination offensive to the dignity and vocation of women in the area of work is due to a long series of conditioning that penalizes women, who have seen “their prerogatives misrepresented” and themselves “relegated to the margins of society and even reduced to servitude”.^{637John Paul II, Letter to Women, 3: AAS 87 (1995), 804.} These difficulties, unfortunately, have not been overcome, as is demonstrated wherever there are situations that demoralize women, making them objects of a very real exploitation. An urgent need to recognize effectively the rights of women in the workplace is seen especially under the aspects of pay, insurance and social security.^{638Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 24: AAS 74 (1982), 109-110.}