The International Bar Association (IBA) has released research into gender inequality in the global legal profession, with a focus on Ukraine. The report, titled 50:50 by 2030: A longitudinal study into gender disparity in law — UKRAINE RESULTS REPORT, was prepared by the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) for the IBA.
Research found that overall women make up 56 per cent of all lawyers in Ukraine, with 53 per cent in senior roles — the highest percentage among the ten countries thus far studied. The Ukrainian public sector has the highest proportion of women lawyers at a senior level (76 per cent), followed by the corporate sector (59 per cent), and the judiciary (40 per cent). Law firms have the lowest percentage of female lawyers in senior positions (38 per cent).
The Ukraine report is the tenth in the series released by the IBA in collaboration with the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation (LNROLF). The research is part of a nine-year project examining the statistical disparity between men and women in senior roles across the legal profession — private practice, in-house legal teams, public sector institutions and the judiciary. The project aims to uncover the root causes of gender disparity at the top of the legal profession, identify whether diversity initiatives introduced to address this disparity are having any impact and produce a blueprint for gender equality at all levels.
The IBA highlights that without the work of the UBA, the study of Ukraine would not have been possible. Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s lawyers and judges have fought to uphold the values of the legal profession under the most egregious circumstances, with their tenacity, stoicism and resilience maintaining gender equality as a key issue for the profession.
Mykola Stetsenko, President of the UBA, wrote in the report’s foreword:
‘This document not only encapsulates our accomplishments and the challenges we face but also carves a path toward achieving equality and fairness. In these challenging times, as our nation grapples with the repercussions of the invasion, women in the legal arena have shown remarkable resilience and commitment. From judges to lawyers, from scholars to volunteers, women have not only fulfilled their professional obligations but have also provided invaluable support to their communities.’
The full report can be accessed at the following link.