Desigualdade salarial entre mulheres e homens: um estudo do fenômeno no Brasil

Abstract

Brazil ranks 72nd in the Global Gender Gap Report prepared by the World Economic Forum, having closed 72% of the gender gap in 2025. The country regressed in this indicator, as it held the 57th position in the ranking in 2023, when it reached a gender equality index of 72.6%. Despite the plurality of rules in force within the Brazilian legal system concerning equal pay between women and men, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics identified the existence of structural inequality, as differences in pay between workers of different sexes - under the same criteria and subject to only minor variations - have been consistently observed in all Continuous National Household Sample Surveys conducted since 2012. This study seeks to analyze the effectiveness of the rules currently in force in the Brazilian legal system, especially Law No. 14,611/2023, in addressing wage inequality between women and men throughout the national territory. The specific objectives are: (I) to understand wage inequality based on sex as a structuring social phenomenon; (II) to examine national and international legislation regulating equal pay between workers of different sexes; (III) to discuss the role of public policies and pay transparency as instruments to combat inequality; and (IV) to analyze the judicialization of claims on the subject, under both diffuse and concentrated review, from the perspective of Constitutional Procedural Law, since the enactment of Law No. 14,611/2023. The methodology used to reach the conclusions involves qualitative and quantitative, exploratory and descriptive research, based on documentary and bibliographical analysis, with reference to statistical data to contextualize the social reality under study. The jurisprudential analysis presented derives from a search of the decision repositories of the Federal Supreme Court, the Federal Regional Courts, and the Regional Labor Courts. At the end of the research, it was concluded that, in the context of the advancement of neoliberal ideals, there are obstacles to the effective implementation of the principle of equal pay, making the stance of society and the national courts relevant for the application of socially oriented norms and the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.