Today, March 8th is International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day is observed globally and commenced in the 1900s and inspires: people, charities, academic institutions, government entities and other groups to celebrate the achievements of women throughout history and strive for greater gender equality.
Recent statistics from the SRA show that the ratio of women to men of lawyers in law firms are 47:53; almost half. However this wasn’t always the case in fact it wasn’t until The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act in 1919 was introduced that women were even allowed to enter the legal field. Before this Act women were not allowed to become, solicitors, barrister or magistrates.
However since then with the dedication of women in ensuring that their voice is heard in the legal field this number has increased to an almost equal percentage.
Although despite the above there is still a long way to go with sexism still being prevalent in the work place and there still being an unequal proportion of women as partners, the percentage being just 33%.
All young girls/women should be able to have a dream of being partner of a firm one day and this dream be a realistic one.
At Alison Law Solicitors, we are proud to have half of our staff be women with several being in senior management including the Colp officer, it ensures that a female voice is not only heard in the legal filed but in the management of our firm. We want to inspire the next generation of young women to enter the legal field as their voice not only matters but is vital in ensuring that the legal field progresses.
Without women the following Acts would not have been introduced:
1957 – Sex Discrimination Act (protects individuals from discrimination in education, vocational training, employment, facilities and services, the provision and sales of goods, premises and the exercise of public functions due to their sex/gender.)
1970 – Equal Pay Act (mandates equal pay for equal work regardless of an individual’s sex/gender.)
2002 – Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act (amended the Sex Discrimination Act 1957)
2006/10 – The Equality Acts (codified and combined all equality enactments within Great Britain and provide comparable protections across all equality strands.
These are just a mere few of the Acts that have helped create greater quality and opportunity for women.
But there is still progress to be made as women still face discrimination with the gender pay gap being reported as 15.5% in 2020. Women are also more likely to be victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault and discrimination in the workplace compared to men.
As such it is vital that we continue to make efforts to tackle discrimination both in the workplace and in the legal field and at Alison Law Solicitors we strive to do this.
Leah Nelson, Trainee Solicitor
