International Woman’s Day Breakfast 2025: The importance of Equality and Empowerment

Breakfast with Freeda

Huma and Tayla from the Family and Employment Teams had a lovely morning at the International Women’s Day (“IWD”) Breakfast with Freeda, hosted by The Royal Yacht. Freeda works to free women and children from domestic abuse and its mission is to protect and empower women in Jersey.

The event followed the theme for IWD this year which is “Accelerate Action” and emphasises the importance of rights equality and empowerment.

The team heard from two inspirational women, Harriet Wistrich, founder of the Centre for Women’s Justice and an experienced lawyer in high profile domestic abuse cases. She emphasised how important it is to feel empowered to speak up and report discriminatory behaviour and domestic abuse. The second speaker was Lesley Katsande who carries out brilliant work for the charity, Friends of Africa. She highlighted the impact of the covid-19 pandemic for ethnic minority groups who did not have the same rights regarding employment and immigration as islanders.

The Chief Minister and the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs also spoke and expressed their commitment to tackling domestic abuse and introduced its new campaign to tackle coercive control.

Being a woman in the legal profession

“Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another.  We’re strongest when we cheer each other on.” – Serena Williams

This sentiment reflects the essence of International Woman’s Day, celebrating the achievements of women, lifting each other up, and recognising that true progress comes when women stand together in support of one another. We asked Huma and Tayla about their experiences as women working in the legal industry.

Huma

To me, IWD has always meant celebrating and acknowledging the achievements of women whilst continually striving for equal rights.  I have considerable varied experience working in medical, scientific, corporate and legal arenas which have been predominantly male.  Whilst my personal experiences working within these arenas have been positive (although admittedly not without challenges and have contributed towards my resilience and infrangible spirit) and over the years there has been progress, there remains an increasing need to address the barriers and biases that women continue to face both personally and professionally. My work encompasses family law, an area where the women appear to outnumber the men although there are a considerable number of male family lawyers, I have been fortunate to work with some empowering women. In my role in the family team at BCR Law, a firm which supports and welcomes inclusivity, I continue to work with empowering women who support and mentor each other, working together as a team.

Tayla

Being a young woman in the legal profession often makes you feel like you have something extra to prove.  When I started working in the Judiciary at the tender age of eighteen it was clear that all my superiors, whilst lovely, were male. That has changed over the years, and I have had the opportunity to work with many empowering women in the workplace.  I have worked in the areas of Employment and Discrimination for the past eight years and it has been inspiring to see changes made to tackle equality and empowerment of women.  At BCR, and in my particular role within the Employment Team, we are committed to working with agencies such as Liberate to deliver training to educate others on topics such as discrimination and equality.  We are also committed to equal opportunities within the workplace and we are proud that 60% of our workforce are women.

Tackling equality in the legal profession

The legal profession in the UK has made good progress to reaching equality in terms of representation, with 53% of those working in law in 2023 being women.  The same can’t be said for equality in terms of salaries.  The 2023/24 statistics published by the Office for National Statistics show that the overall gender pay gap for legal professionals was 17.6%.  In Jersey, we do not have specific statistics for the legal profession, but overall, the gender pay gap in 2024 was 12%.  The Government of Jersey released a statement in October 2024 to state that is it committed to tackling the gender pay gap in Jersey by focusing on practical solutions.

What practical solutions are in place and what more could be introduced?

Solutions in place

The Discrimination (Jersey) Law 2013 provides protection against pay discrimination for the protected characteristics of sex, age, race and disability.  If an employee is successful, they could receive compensation up to £10,000.00.

Solutions required

A statutory gender pay gap reporting requirement.  This may be introduced by 8th March 2026.

It is, however, also the responsibility of Employers to make efforts to tackle this issue as well.

What can employers do?

• Analyse the gender imbalance in the workplace across all job types and departments on a regular basis;
• Have a fair selection process when assessing bonuses and promotions;
• Assess whether more women resign than men and the reasons why;
• Assess whether more men than women are offered overtime or more opportunities for lucrative work.

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