Six in 10 women in law have experienced sex discrimination at work while seven in 10 stayed quiet about their experience, fearing it would damage their careers. These are the worrying findings of a survey conducted by the Next 100 Years project.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Sex Discrimination Act, which protected men and women from discrimination on the grounds of sex or marital status, covering employment, education and harassment. However, 88% of the 148 women who responded to the Next 100 Years survey said sex discrimination remains prevalent in the legal profession.
Eight in 10 women knew colleagues who experienced discrimination in the last five years. Half of respondents said their organisation took alleged incidents seriously, but one in five said their firms did not. Asked who was being discriminatory, a third of respondents pointed the finger towards leadership figures.
Nearly two-thirds of women fear their firms will deprioritise diversity and inclusion initiatives as a result of US President Donald Trump’s assault on DEI initiatives.
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Next 100 Years founder and solicitor Dana Denis-Smith said: ‘It is alarming to see so many women working in the legal profession are still exposed to discriminatory behaviour and that in many cases it appears to come from across the organisation, not just a few rogue individuals. Whilst it is good to see a majority of organisations taking this issue seriously, if women still feel speaking up could impact their career prospects, or suspect their organisation’s leadership to be complicit, we are a long way from seeing the change we need to help women thrive.
‘There is clearly more to be done and I hope that initiatives such as the Harman review... will go some way to addressing the issues women in law contend with.’
Concerned about the knock-on effect of what has been unfolding in the US, Denis-Smith, who becomes Law Society president in 2027, said the legal profession must 'redouble' its commitment to workplace equality, and foster a culture where discrimination is not tolerated and those who experience it are empowered to speak out.
