The ugly face of sexism

The fact that the Law Society is considering having a designated women's seat on the council in order to alleviate sex discrimination is good news for all women in the profession.

However, the debate is already retreating into sexism with the age-old claim that successful women solicitors do not want it.

Sexism is obviously not an issue for successful women solicitors and so their opinions on the subject are no more relevant than most male opinions on the matter.

There is, however, a whole group of women out there who feel excluded from the boys-club scenario. No matter what improvements firms claim they are making, or have made, the question of sexism more often than not rears its ugly head.

I write as someone who experienced it in my 'forward-looking' firm when I announced that I was pregnant. My 'promised' partnership never came about.

A women's seat on the council would be one step in the right direction of drawing attention to this problem.



Name and address withheld.