International Women’s Day: what it means to me

Celebrating International Women’s Day for me is a time of reflection on the challenges we face but also the victories won in tackling gender inequality and discrimination.

Women could not even be members of the Law Society until the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of?1919 and still face multi-faceted challenges - including bias, stereotyping and discrimination - within the legal profession today.

Overall, 52% of solicitors are female but this varies by the type of legal work undertaken by the firm.

Some quick statistics:

• The number of female barristers in 2021 was 6,400, while 10,380 were male.
• Only 15% of the most senior barristers, known as Queen’s Counsel or silks, are female, and just 29 per cent of judges. Female counsel are often engaged in lower paid legal roles such as criminal law.
• Clifford Chance’s 2020 gender pay gap report revealed that women Partners in the firm were paid on average 65.7% less than men.

The challenges still facing us are glaringly obvious.

I am reminded of a conversation with my own father, when explaining that I wanted to specialise in criminal law. He expressed concern about his little girl engaging with criminals and it being a job for men! Nevertheless, I went ahead and can honestly say that coming into a male-dominated industry at the time I did only made me a stronger and more determined individual.

Being ignored in an advocate’s room when legal points were being discussed; hearing comments like “I think the judge just likes the ladies” instead of acknowledging the equal amount of time and preparation I had put in; clients asking for a male lawyer after I had travelled an hour to get to a 3am call out at the police station; a senior staff member in a former firm who felt entitled to make inappropriate jokes about my race or culture, just because they had neighbours or friends from the same culture: these are just some of the issues I have experienced. It was thanks to a supportive female manager who had already trod the way, who encouraged and championed me, and a few fellow female advocates at the time who reminded me I was here to challenge injustice, be that personal or professional.

Women continue to push towards greater success. In 2000 11% of the SFO’s Senior Civil Service (SCS) were women – this has increased to 62% in February 2022. By comparison, 46.7% of the wider Civil Service SCS are women. I have learned that among the many things I could say to any women starting out their legal career, the most important is to believe in yourself, and adopt an attitude of “I can, I will, watch me”. Don’t just think you can move up the ladder, instead visualise yourself as already being that Judge, Senior Partner, Director or whatever you desire. Take action, get organised, make yourself seen and heard. Submit the application, because if you don’t you will never know your potential.

Surround yourself with people who champion women and diversity. We cannot wait for others to break the bias, we each have a responsibility to tackle the issue.

Anjuna Khuttan, Lawyer, General Counsel’s Office