Gender inequality is a major concern globally. A UN report released in 2020 found that almost 90% of men and women, hold some sort of bias against females. To break this bias, and make progress towards attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, requires action. It was to underscore this need for action, that the International Women’s Day 2022 had “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow” as its theme, and “Breaking the Bias” as its campaign theme.
Keying into this global theme, the Nigerian Bar Association Women’s Forum (NBAWF) chose “The Invisible Hand of Gender Bias: Championing Collective Change”, as the theme for the second edition of its annual International Women’s Day Conference (IWD 2022). The theme focused on the underlying gender bias in the legal profession, and how it influences individual behaviours that generate, legitimise, and mask broad patterns of inequality.
At the NBAWF Conference held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Thursday, March 31, 2022, speakers and panellists agreed that gender bias occurs everywhere and in all aspects of life, and breaking it is a collective responsibility that must be championed by all.
“Collective change can only happen if we all raise awareness, as it is being done at this Conference and many other conferences”, Prof Oluyemisi Bamgbose, SAN, Chairperson, NBAWF, said in her welcome address at the Conference.
A major milestone, according to her, was the MOU signed between the NBAWF and the New York State Bar Association Women in Law Section, which has facilitated sustained and seamless interactions regarding issues of common interest between female lawyers across the two jurisdictions as well as encouraged female lawyers to have a global outlook, perspective and reach.
President of the NBA, Olumide Akpata, in his opening remarks commended the NBAWF Chairperson and Council Members, for their efforts in ensuring that the NBAWF fulfils its objectives, part of which is breaking the gender bias.
Akpata, who was represented by NBA General Secretary, Joyce Oduah, said he was disturbed early in March when the National Assembly rejected the five Gender Bills presented before it. In response, he had asked the Chairmen of NBA Branches in the States to lead a protest to their States Houses of Assembly, and subsequently, the National Assembly announced it would reconsider the Bills.
In her goodwill message, First Lady of Imo State, Mrs Chioma Uzodimma (also a Lawyer), who was the headline sponsor of the Conference, paid tribute to women Lawyers in history, whom she said had worked tirelessly in helping women to achieve the present level of freedom and political power. She said it is a credit to those women, that over 100 years later, the generations they left behind have not only maintained the unspoken tradition of powerful women extending their hands to the women coming after them, but are also advancing their goal by fighting individually and collectively, the inequality and gender bias women face.
First Lady of Taraba State, Anna Ishaku, commended the efforts of NBAWF, saying the more women come together in different fora to discuss ways of ending gender bias, the more the chances of actually ending the bias.
Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, said one way of breaking the gender bias is for women to support fellow women in all spheres of life through opening doors of opportunities, mentoring, and so on. She said the world would be a better place, if women had equal opportunities with men.
The Conference featured a total of six panel sessions on the topics “Hidden Biases in Courtroom Dynamics: Gender and the Judiciary”; “Rising to the Occasion: Leadership from the Eyes of Contemporary Young Women”;“Advancing Society: The National Assembly as a Friend or Foe?”;“The Road Less Travelled: Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession”; “Shattering Stereotypes: Heels in the Boardroom – A Case for Navigating or Negotiating the Corporate Ladder”; and “Justifying Diversity – Should Quotas be used to Achieve Legal Parity?”, which was a debate session.
