On February 24, 2020, the Public Talk “Gender Equality in the Legal Profession: Myth or Reality?” which was organized by the NAAU Gender Policy Committee supported by AVER LEX was held. This event was organized to attract the attention of the legal community to existing gender stereotypes in the profession.

The initiator and inspirer of the event was the Managing Partner Olga Prosyanyuk. The gender issue and the effectiveness of gender strategy are two topics on which the discussion was focused.

The Government Plenipotentiary for Gender Policy Kateryna Levchenko, ILO National Coordinator in Ukraine Sergey Savchuk, Head of the European Court of Human Rights Practice in the Prosecution Service Veronika Plotnikova, and Ex-member of the NACP in the European Court of Human Rights Olexandr Seregin were the speakers in the session.

They shared their own understanding of gender equality, spoke about cases of “gender gaps”, the fight against gender stereotypes and discrimination, and about State gender policies. Olga Prosyanyukmoderated this session in the “open mic” format when each of the speakers and participants could express their position. By the way, 130 people took part in this event.

The second session was focused on issues of gender strategy, the benefits of its implementation and working with the team on this issue. Nadiya Stefaniv, Judge of the Court of Cassation as part of the Supreme Court, President of the professional public organization “All-Ukrainian Association of Women Judges” moderated it. And she was one of the speakers. At the beginning of the session, she formed two groups of participants. These were the defenders and the prosecutors of gender equality. Nadiya held a simulated court hearing that aroused a high interest.

Then Chairman of the Association of Women Lawyers of Ukraine “YurFem” Krystyna Kit, the First Deputy Director of the Coordination Center for the provision of Free Legal Aid Oksana Vasylyaka, president of the public organization “La Strada-Ukraine” Olga Kalashnik and the Head of the methodological department of the state institution “Academy of Patrol Police”, police lieutenant colonel Svitlana Shutenko shared their experiences.

Olga Prosyanyuk, Managing Partner, Head of the NAAU Gender Policy Committee:

«In the course of the Committee’s activities, listening to speakers (both men and women), it became clear that issues of gender equality, stereotypes, wage gaps exist, but they are overlooked by the public. Consequently, it was agreed to hold a Public Talk “Gender Equality in the Legal Profession: Myth or Reality?”. An event has opened this topic to every sceptic. And as it turned out, there were many people. These were mostly men. In the beginning, I asked everyone what gender equality means for them, does it exist in the legal profession, do participants think about gender stereotypes and have experienced gender discrimination? Responses were varied. I am very grateful to all the participants who were not afraid to share their stories. It was an incredibly lively (despite the specific nature of the topic) and motivating discussion!».