Gender Equality in the Enjoyment of Socio-Economic Rights: A Case Study of the South African Constitution.

The founding values of the Constitution include human dignity, the achievement of equality, the advancement of human rights and freedoms, non-racialism and non-sexism.3 These values are given concrete expression by the entrenchment of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution containing a comprehensive set of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. The inclusion of justiciable socio-economic rights in the Bill of Rights represents a commitment to ensuring that all in South Africa enjoy a standard of living consonant with human dignity. This paper examines how the South African Constitution intends to promote and enforce gender equality in the enjoyment of socio-economic rights.