This essay will critically analyse how discrimination against women is a structural injustice.

It will also describe how the theoretical knowledge involved in the structural injustice must be accounted for criminally. First, it will introduce some examples of discrimination against women, analysing the different forms of discrimination and how it is structured in society. Second, it explains the meaning of structural injustice and how this theory is helpful to understand the phenomenon of discrimination. Finally it will relate this emerging theory to the field of criminology.

Through modern history women had to fight for the acknowledgment of their rights. First the political rights related to the capability to vote, and, second equal labour relationships. These examples, just to name a few, demonstrate that women lived and live in a patriarchal society. First, for example in Victoria, women were able to vote in 1909 in State Elections, but only women who met the proper qualification could vote in Legislative Council elections. Victorian women won an equal right to stand for election to both Houses of their State parliament in 1924. (Australia Womens History Forum) The explanations for this kind of discrimination were related to prejudge (tipi que quisiste decir aqu? Se relacionaban con prejuicio? Presunciones? . For example, if a woman was married, her husband could vote for both of them, because he knew what was the best for the family; or if a woman was living with her parents, the father (head of the family) was the one that was able to vote and choose the best option for all the family members he represented. For others, the reasons to not let woman vote was that the political and economic fields were unsuitable for women. It was suggested that they were too heavily influenced by their emotions, which prevented them from asserting any intellectual decisiveness. There was also concern about the implications for women's home life. (Wester Sydney Institute 2011 p.5) As part of this systemic discrimination, now a days women dont participate in the same rates as men do in the political life of the country. Second, the labour relationships between men and women have always been non equal. Women were confined to housework. Domestic work was

considered as an activity but not as a remunerated work. Womens supposed inferiority has also been used as a basis for the belief that much of the work the women do isnt work at all and therefore isnt worthy of anything more than emotional compensation. (Johnson 2001 p. 271) Besides, women dont earn as much as men do for the same kind of job. There was a widespread application of the theory that women were inferior, both physically and intellectually, to men and could not therefore participate equally in the workforce (Bessant and Watts, in West Sydney Institute 2011 p. 2) Third, women must face the fact of balancing work and caring responsibilities. Usually they take part time jobs instead of full time jobs. In general women have worse social benefits than their male partners. How is possible that these facts quietly exist in a society that claims the right of equality as a principal value of state? It is possible that these facts are a result of bad luck or even the will of God? Since the 18th century, modern society had been conceived as a contract. We, the people, create a leviathan called state. It will structure society with the goal of leading and protecting us. This structure feeds off the values of society and will generate all kinds of organisms that are necessary to accomplish these goals for which for it was created (process). In this hypothetical thought, the structure of the state (and the processes) and the society should be constructed as equal as possible, but instead the state (the people who rule the state and unconscious the people who live in the society) develop a system that is not fair. In other words we are talking about a social structure. It denotes a confluence of institutional rules and interactive routines, mobilization of resources and physical structures; these constitute the historical givens in relation to which individuals act, and which is relatively stable over time. (Young, 2003 p.4) The consequences of these non equal structures are injustice situations. Patriarchy or sexism in the case of discrimination against women is the form of social structure because it is the way the world is determined. It is hard to accept that this is our reality but the facts of discrimination in political rights and in labour relationships show that in some way women are not treated equally.

So the structural injustice is a situation that is hidden or invisible in the society, that doesnt allow full access of civil and human rights and must not be understood as bad luck.
For Rawls structural Injustice exists when the combined operation of actions in institutions out large categories of person under a systematic threat of domination or deprivation of the means to develop and exercise their capacities, at the same time as they enable others to dominate or give them access to an abundance of resources. Structural injustice is a kind of moral wrong distinct from the wrongful action of an individual agent or the wilfully repressive policies of the state. Structural Injustice occurs as a consequence of many individual and institutions acting in pursuit of their particular goals and interests, within given institutional rules and accepted norms. (Owen 2011 p.5-6)

In the political life women have been discriminated by the unjust social structures generating inequality. The right to vote had to be recognised, fact that shows the non-equal relations between men and women. For men it was a right inherent to their condition. In 2012 the Department of Parliamentary Services of the Parliament of Australia present an investigation which establishes that only 30.3 per cent of the Parliament members (both houses) are women. (??2012 p.2). Even though in the last hundred years? women had achieved the right to vote and the right to participate in political life, still their representation in the political life is not as equal as men. This situation is the result of the structural injustice developed in a sexist society. A fact that must be mentioned about structural injustice is that it can be worse if, to the regular situation of being a woman there is added another circumstance, like being lesbian. It is like in a construction, the structural injustice becomes more complex with every pillar you put. In the labour field the relation is similarly unequal. Women have achieved a great participation in the labour field, but still dont get the equal recognition. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency published that women earn 17.5 % less than a men. (2013) what is behind the gender pay gap? The only logical explanation for this problem is the structural injustice understood as a harm that comes to people as a result of structural processes in which many people participate (Young 2003 p.7)

Discrimination against women in Australian society is a problem. The gap closes gradually but still the male-controlled society imposes structures that shunt in injustice. One of the consequences of the structural injustice is that women are in a position of disadvantage. Under these structures they become vulnerable. The chances of suffering any kind of violence (any act of discrimination that can harm a woman) increases, and the probabilities get higher if the woman has another structural issue like lack of education or is unemployed. According to United Nation Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Woman Violence against women violence Revisar. Dice dos veces violence y no entend si es el titulo o despues del titulo quisiste decir al mas affects women of all ages, race, culture and wealth. It takes place in all areas, in private and in public spaces, during times of conflict and in times of peace. (2013) These facts support the idea that every woman could be at risk. Criminology studies the people involved in the crime conflict, as perpetrators or victims trying to understand why they are included and how this situation could be overcome? El sentido de la pregunta est un poco perdido. Lo entendi como una afirmacin y nouna pregunta The structural injustice as an emerging theory and helps criminology comprehend the phenomena of discrimination against women and the risk associated with it. For example in Australia Research indicates that one in three Australian women have experienced physical violence since the age of 15, and one in five have experienced sexual violence as an adult. (Victims) (Department of Justice Victoria 2012 p. 3) Criminology analyse this information offering a theoretical explanation (structural injustice) and a practical solution (crime prevention).

The complex social structure is crossed by multiple distortions. These distortions dont allow the fully enjoyment of humans rights . (Structural injustice) The discrimination against women, especially labour discrimination, the political discrimination and the violence against women evidence that we still live in a patriarchal society. The structural injustice is a theory that explains that bad luck is not just that. The way the society is structured limits the free development of the human being. This knowledge (Structural Injustice) helps criminology to

explain why woman are victims of a crime, understanding this situation of vulnerability.

http://www.wgea.gov.au/news-and-media/cost-being-female-64-extra-days-work http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/1481963/upload_binary/14 81963.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/1481963%22

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