More than 300 women lawyers across six continents were surveyed by the Law Society and law firm Bates Wells about their experiences. The research was used to create a toolkit on how to set up gender equality initiatives, released this week to mark International Women’s Day.
Interviewee Rachel Stein, from the Brazilian Mentoring Group, said: ‘When we started, there were no similar organisations…there should be a book with information about how to do this kind of thing because we took a lot of hard falls since we had no guidance.’
Melanie Carter, partner at Bates Wells who led the research and co-authored the report, said: ‘In some countries, the women we interviewed were working with few resources and in some cases in the face of outright hostility.
‘Even in this situation, there are inspiring models to follow and great ideas for how to organise. It is our strong hope that the practical focus of this report will make it a go to resource for women lawyers who want to put together support initiatives whether that’s within a law firm, a separate organisation or as part of the local or national bar association.’
