Legal Studies - Women (Status, Changing Needs, Gender Bias in the Australian Legal System)

a) Historically, to what extent were women treated as second-class citizens?
It can be stated that women have been treated as second-class citizens to a very large extent throughout history. In the past, women have always been held at an inferior place to men. The traditional role of women has been one of subservience to men. The role of a woman was either as a prostitute, or as a wife at home. Men were the breadwinners and the head of the household whilst women served their husbands, bore children and in charge of domestic duties. …