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Policy

WICL Policy

Welcome to the Women in Criminal Law blog

 

Here you can find updates on the ways in which WICL is working to influence policy and ensure that the criminal justice system works for our members. We know that, in reality, the way in which the system operates often actively discriminates against female practitioners, and we aim to speak up on behalf of our members in order to change that.

 

We exist for you, our members, and we welcome any suggestions on issues you would like WICL to consider from a policy perspective, or any organisations you would like to see us engage with or make representations to.

 

You can get in touch with us at womenincrimlawpolicy@gmail.com, or via our LinkedIn or Twitter pages.
All communications will be treated anonymously.

 

Concerns that we are currently investigating include:

 

  • Extended Operating Hours; 

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  • The requirement for duty solicitors to undertake a minimum of 14 hours’ contract work per week, and how this discriminates against women who are more likely to work part time and/or have caring responsibilities;

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  • The gender pay gap, both in firms and at the Bar, including the disparity in the types of cases women are briefed in, in contrast to male colleagues of similar call and experience;

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  • The low uptake of Shared Parental Leave, and the reasons behind this;

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  • The disproportionate impact of warned lists on female advocates; and

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  • The underrepresentation of female practitioners in professional directories

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May 28, 2020

Shared Parental Leave Initiative

In 2015, new rules on shared parental leave (SPL) came into force. The rules allow parents to take up to 50 weeks off - shared between them – following the first two weeks after birth. It was hoped that these changes would help drive a cultural shift away from the expectation that mothers should take the lead on childcare, to the detriment of their careers.

From the get go, the new regime was subject to criticism. Many felt that the new rules did not go far enough, for example, by not introducing incentives to encourage gender equality. In Sweden, when uptake on SPL was low, a gender equality bonus scheme was introduced to encourage parents to share leave more equally. In the UK, no such incentives have been introduced, meaning that for many families SPL simply does not make financial sense. As such, the status quo is perpetuated, with women feeling compelled by finances to stay at home while their male partners advance their careers.

We want to hear about our members’ experiences of SPL. What decisions did you make about using the scheme? If you decided not to use it, why? Did you find the regulations unnecessarily complex? Was your employer or chambers supportive? Whatever your experience, good or bad, we want to hear about it!

To that end, we have put together this survey on SPL.


Please do take the time to complete this if it's relevant to you, so that we can better understand your experiences. The more comprehensive our data, the better our understanding of the practical issues facing women in criminal law in this area will be. We will use this data to formulate policy which advocates for equality between working parents in the family unit.

If you would like to share your experiences more directly, don’t hesitate to get in touch at womenincrimlawpolicy@gmail.com, or via our LinkedIn or Twitter pages. All communications will be treated anonymously.

Huge thanks to Danielle Reece-Greenhalgh for putting this survey together and for leading our SPL initiative. If you want to learn more about the SPL initiative, you can watch a short video by Danielle introducing the survey here.



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