Law Society comments on gender disparities ahead of International Women’s Day

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Ahead of International Women’s Day on Sunday 8 March, deputy vice president of the Law Society of England and Wales, Dana Denis-Smith OBE, has highlighted the “work that still needs to be done” to achieve gender equality across the legal profession.

Her comments come as new data shared by the United Nation shows that women worldwide hold only 64% of the legal rights afforded to men, with experts warning that – at the current pace – closing legal protection gaps could take 286 years.

Denis-Smith said: “This International Women’s Day is a great opportunity to reflect, like every year, on how far we've come and the work that still needs to be done to achieve gender parity at all levels in the legal profession.”

Up until now, no country has yet achieved full legal equality between men and women. Significant disparities remain across critical areas including employment, finance, personal safety, family, property ownership, mobility, business opportunities and retirement security.

Denis-Smith highlighted a range of ongoing barriers that women face in the legal profession, including unequal pay, gender bias and opaque promotion pathways, as well as “the prospect of having to choose between acceptable work/life balance and career progression”.

Find out more about how Dana Denis-Smith changed the legal industry.

She added: “This is alongside inconsistent support around maternity leave, returning to work after career breaks, flexible working and shared parental leave. Flexible and hybrid working remain the most popular requests from our members seeking career progression, while gender pay gaps persist.”

Concluding her remarks, Denis-Smith stated: “The Law Society is committed to building a more inclusive profession, because when we do, everyone benefits and our work is focused on turning ambition into action. We should all take action to make the change we want to see in our profession.”