This book presents a wide-ranging comparative analysis of the development of sex-equality policies within Europe. The contributors, comprising both European and US-based scholars, address a very current political issue. This is an area of policy that has reached the decision-making stage in much of Europe and it is thus possible to assess the outcome of policy-making and to account for cross-national variations of sex-equality policy measures.The contributors discuss the similarities and differences in levels of awareness, commitment to equality of opportunity and readiness to turn rhetoric into reality in a number of west European countries, including Spain, the Netherlands, Britain, Norway and Ireland.