Women lawyers told to unite in battle for rightsCONFERENCE: Napier warns of unequal pay, discriminationWomen need to work together to ensure that law and politics can be used to advance womens rights across the world, the inaugural world women...Women need to work together to ensure that law and politics can be used to advance womens rights across the world, the inaugural world women lawyers conference heard last week.

In the keynote speech, Judith Resnick, professor of law at Yale University in the US, told the International Bar Association (IBA) conference that although women are in positions of power, there was a double story being played out.

Many women are marching gloriously from being silent to speaking out, from being oppressed to being in power; yet we must remember that not all people are marching together at the same time, and many women are still excluded and repressed.

She drew attention to last months landmark judgment at the UN court in The Hague, which made sexual slavery a war crime against humanity.

A female prosecutor brought the case in front of a female judge, and it was a huge leap forward for womens and human rights.

The conference was attended by more than 900 women from 90 countries, and was organised by English-born Bermuda-based IBA president Dianna Kempe QC.

Addressing the conference, Law Society President Michael Napier drew attention to the fact that more than half of law students in England are women, and over the past four years female enrolment for law courses has leapt by 136%.

However, he said: Although we have a great deal to be proud of in this country, we still have a long way to go.

Women still need to battle against unequal pay for the sexes, discrimination in all forms in the profession, and the difficulties of attaining a balance between work and life.

Victoria MacCallum