A new student society established this year at Kent Law School offers students an opportunity to critically explore issues around feminism, intersectionality, and the law.
Empowering Womxn in Law (EWIL) has been founded by four final-year Law LLB students – Larissa Balkissoon (President), Mariah Ali (Vice-President), Rabia Siva (Treasurer) and Jessica Keay (Events Director), each of whom share a passion for making a difference.
EWIL mindfully uses the word “womxn” in the place of “women” to acknowledge and reinforce support for all womxn, irrespective of sexual orientation, race, religion or gender. Larissa said: ‘We will be using our platform to lift and support womxn but all are welcome and encouraged to get involved, regardless of sex or gender expression.’
Larissa, Mariah and Rabia (all from Toronto) and Jessica (from Northern England) decided at the end of last year that they wanted to do something on campus to make sure that womxn felt acknowledged, supported and respected in their education and career endeavours.
Larissa said: ‘We came together to start this society after experiencing first-hand the inequalities that exist in the legal profession, starting in legal education. I want to spark conversation around not only gender and racial equality in the field, but also the unequal treatment of womxn by the law, and the unique ways in which womxn exist and interact with the current legal framework. We don’t want to fit into a man’s world, we want to do our part in building a more mindfully inclusive one.’
Mariah undertook research into the inequalities faced by women in the legal profession during her second year of studies. She said: ‘The findings of my research inspired me to start finding ways to fight the inequalities womxn face, and incorporate womxn from the very beginning of the legal profession, our legal studies. I hope this Society empowers womxn and truly leaves a lasting impact on the University, being the first Society focussing on empowering womxn in the law.’
EWIL is open to all students interested in developing their critical thinking skills – Larissa said: ‘While we contextualise our mission to legal practice and policy, in no way do you need to be a law student to be an integral part of our community.’
We asked EWIL to tell us which women in the law inspire them. Here’s who and why…
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg: one of the first female US Supreme Court justices (appointed in 1993), for dedicating so much of her long legal career to being an advocate for womxn’s rights and gender equality, even as her health deteriorates as she battles cancer. She never shied away from a strong dissent and we respect that
- Christina Blacklaws: the 174th president of the Law Society of England and Wales for being an absolute trailblazer for gender equality in the legal profession. She has held incredible leadership positions such as the Chair of the Ministry of Justice’s Law Tech delivery panel
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Congresswoman in the US House of Representatives since 2019 for New York, for being a player in policy making in the United States and a champion for the working class American on important fronts such as health care, womxn’s rights and environmentalism. Politicians are an important piece of the entire picture when it comes to the legal system and policy making, and this woman is an ally to many.
Follow EWIL on social media for updates on forthcoming events and activities:
- @ewil_kent on Instagram
- Empowering womxn in law UKC on Facebook
Other student societies at Kent Law School include: