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Act of paternal consent of 1955

Date
1955 - 1995
Archive
Central Archive of the Civil Registry of Barcelona
Document type
Textual
Reference code
CAT ARCBCN RC JMUN04BCN ACM 51/1955
Link to the archive
Description

This document is a direct testimony of the legal situation of women during the Franco dictatorship. In it, a widowed mother grants her 24-year-old daughter permission to travel abroad, in front of a judge and in the presence of witnesses. This apparently administrative act reflects a deeply patriarchal reality: adult women needed parental or marital authorization to exercise basic rights such as travel, work or manage property. The act highlights the denial of female autonomy and the institutionalization of the legal subordination of women. It is a valuable source for analyzing Franco’s legislation and its social consequences, and is part of the theme of the “beats of Catalan society” and politics and governance. Documents like this help to understand the struggle for gender equality and the importance of preserving the memory of structural discrimination.