In the Global Gender Gap Report prepared by the World Economic Forum in 2009, Argentine women ranked 24th among 134 countries studied in terms of their access to resources and opportunities relative to men.

Their economic clout in relation to men is higher than in most Latin American countries, however,[8] and numerous Argentine women hold top posts in the Argentine corporate world;[9] among the best known are María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, former CEO and majority stakeholder of Loma Negra, the nation's largest cement manufacturer, and Ernestina Herrera de Noble, director of Grupo Clarín, the premier media group in Argentina.

Domestic violence in Argentina is a serious problem, as are obstacles to the timely prosecution of rape, the prevalence of sexual harassment, and a persistent gender pay gap, among other iniquities.

[10] In the early nineteenth century, the Spanish crown ruled the region now encompassed by the modern countries of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, via the viceroyalty of Río de la Plata, with the capital in Buenos Aires.

Rural areas in Argentina were sparsely populated by the aboriginals and gauchos, mixed race men on horseback who hunted free-range cattle for their hides and to make dried beef.

[16] The Argentine quota law signed by President Carlos Menem in 1991 provides that one-third of the members of both houses of congress must be women, a goal achieved through balanced election slates.

[25] The civil society organization La Casa del Encuentro reported that between January and September 2013, 209 women died as a result of domestic or gender-based violence.

[10] In 2009, Argentina enacted Ley de protección integral para prevenir, sancionar y erradicar la violencia contra las mujeres en los ámbitos en que desarrollen sus relacion es interpersonales [Ley 26.485][26] (The Comprehensive Law on the Prevention, Punishment and Elimination of Violence against Women in their Interpersonal Relations [Law 26.485]).

In November 2012, the Congress passed an anti femicide law imposing stricter penalties on perpetrators who kill their spouses, partners, or children as a consequence of gender based violence.

In some jurisdictions, such as Buenos Aires City, sexual harassment may lead to the abuser's dismissal, but in others, such as in Santa Fe Province, the maximum penalty is five days in prison.

Equality is the basis of taxation and public burdens",[32] women often encounter economic discrimination and hold a disproportionately higher number of lower-paying jobs.

[17] According to a 2007 study by the Foundation for Latin American Economic Research (FIEL), men earned 5 percent more than women for equivalent full-time work in the Greater Buenos Aires area, and earned 21 percent more than women for equivalent part-time work, an imbalance explicitly prohibited by law: prison terms of up to three years can be issued for discrimination based on gender.

[35] The Argentine Penal Code 846 had been amended in 2008 to place stricter sanctions against women who seek an abortion, as well as any medical staff involved in the act.

[39][40] Traditionally, access to contraceptives has long been discouraged by a succession of Argentine governments,[41] which instead rewarded large families with subsidies rising disproportionately with the seventh child.

[41] In general, couples and individuals have the right to decide freely the number, spacing, and timing of children, and have access to information and reproductive health services.