Westminster & Holborn’s International Women’s Day Panel Event

Westminster & Holborn’s International Women’s Day Panel Event

On 12 March 2025 we were delighted to welcome our members and supporters to our International Women’s Day (IWD) panel discussion. We heard from four amazing speakers – Anila Khalique, Jade Gani, Netty Yasin and Sarah Bradd – all of whom shared openly their own stories of being a woman in the legal profession, and in Anila’s case the stories of those women solicitors she interviewed as part of her PHD.

We touched on the statistics that underly why IWD is so important, for example the pay gap between male and female solicitors with men generally being paid 20% more, a figure that rises to 66% when partners are included, than women. However, what made this event different to the others we have attended was our speakers’ willingness to speak candidly about the hurdles they had overcome and the challenges they had faced.

We discussed a wide variety of topics, from the the power of empathy, through the paradox of stereotypes to Queen Bees and the need for male allies and two hours of panel discussions flew by before we knew it.

The speakers’ raw honesty resonated with our attendees and the conversations the panel had started continued over drinks late into the evening.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with our attendees telling us that they had been inspired, empowered and emboldened to do more to assert themselves and to support other women in the legal profession.

Our grateful thanks go to our hosts, Doughty Street chambers, who generously let us use their conference room and provided help with setting up on the night. ■