International Women’s Day on 8 March is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
In 2021 the Law Society will mark the year slightly differently to previous years, with a virtual event where they will be launching their joint Law Society and Bates Wells International Women in Law report “Practical Toolkit for Women in Law“. This webinar will highlight and disseminate the report’s key findings and recommendations.
This report reinforces the findings of the 2019 Law Society report ‘Advocating for Change: Transforming the Future of the Legal Profession through greater Gender Equality’, that there are still considerable challenges for women’s progression in the legal profession. This report suggests a series of activities that can be undertaken by individuals and organisations to continue striving for gender equality. One of the key findings is the importance of law societies and bar associations in taking robust leadership for accelerating transformative changes in this area within their own jurisdictions.
Written under extraordinary circumstances generated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the report addresses the unparalleled set of challenges currently being faced by woman around the world. The report also highlights that there has been greater flexibility and more agile working resulting from the ‘working from home’ policy, which has contributed to changing attitudes towards working from home that has been made feasible and manageable due to technology. But this has also led to an increase in home-based burdens. Therefore, it is important to establish boundaries between home and work, which have become more blurred; so, a careful approach is needed. Sexual harassment continues to be a stubborn scourge in many workplaces, but that most women avoid talking about this issue due to the stigma attached and for fear that they will not be believed or will suffer a backlash for speaking out.
Learning objectives
This webinar will offer an opportunity to learn about;
- Findings of the joint Law Society / Bates & Wells report on support mechanisms for women lawyers around the world
- Challenges faced by women lawyers internationally
- Strategies for improving gender equality in the legal sector
- Sharing tools and best practice
- Male champions for change
- Women leadership in law
This event is also:
- An opportunity to learn more about the Law Society’s international women in law programme work and to find out how to get involved
- An opportunity to learn about the role of lawyers in upholding gender equality from a panel of experts
- A virtual networking opportunity
Programme
14:00 – 14:05 Welcome remarks
David Greene, President, The Law Society
14:05 – 14:10 Pre-recorded video message from Commonwealth Secretariat Baroness Scotland to the legal community
14:10 – 14:25 Keynote speaker
Gabriella Ramos, Assistant Director – General for Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO
14:25 – 14:30 Panel introduction
Christoph Sicking, Chair of the Law Society International Committee & Assistant General Counsel, EBRD
14:30 – 15:00 Panel discussion
Co-authors – Lizzette Robleto de Howarth and Melanie Carter
Interviewee – Brooke Holden, Principal, Lipman Karas – Hong Kong
Discussant – Amandeep Khasriya, Senior Associate, Moore Barlow / WLD-UK
15:00 – 15:25 Q&A session
15:25 – 15:30 Closing remarks
Christoph Sicking, Chair of the Law Society International Committee & EBRD Senior Counsel
Sign up for this event here.