INTRODUCTION

1.1. WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT AS A CONCEPT

The title of this contribution, ‘Empowering Women in Family Relations’, might be described as a paradox, namely a statement which in itself is foolish but not without a point. To empower somebody means giving that person the power or the lawful right to do something. If women are autonomous and fully capable individuals, and are equal to men in all spheres of life (as the official Western outlook tells us), why do they need to be empowered? The reason is that formal equality has not succeeded in erasing the significant social, economic and even legal diff erences that exist between the living conditions of men and women.

Europe is not an exception, in spite of the fact that women in Europe today tend to have completed a higher level of education than men!

The purpose of this contribution is to investigate legal measures and methods for safeguarding women's equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities within family relations. This approach is in conflict with another model of ‘inclusion’, i.e. that of the traditionalist approaches, which require and expect women's commitment to the ‘natural roles’ in the family, for the alleged benefit of the family and children, as well as society.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SITUATING WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT IN A FAMILY LAW CONTEXT

Societal attitudes change slowly. When both partners in a relationship are unable to combine family responsibilities with a career, expectations continue to be on the female partner to prioritise family interests, to give birth to and raise the children, whereas the ‘breadwinning lot’ falls on the man. While this division of labour may well be fully in line with the parties’ own preferences and choice, it risks producing adverse and unequal effects, both during the relationship and upon its termination.