GEN
GEN (Gender Equality Network) aims to promote gender equality and equal opportunities for people of all gender identities by raising awareness of workplace issues, encouraging engagement with questions on gender equality, providing training and offering a supportive forum to exchange ideas.
About GEN
Our Gender Equality Network (GEN) celebrates and promotes gender equality in and outside the workplace. We work to create inclusive spaces for individuals in the firm to share their experiences and encourage engagement on gender equality, raise awareness of workplace issues, to learn from each other and be inspired by external speakers, and to work towards improving gender equality at Slaughter and May and in our communities.
GEN was formally founded in 2013 as the Women's Network. Over time, discussions within the network and with allies lead to a rebrand as GEN in 2019, the firm’s Gender Equality Network, in order to better reflect the identity of the network as an inclusive space and to allow it to fulfil its long-term aim of furthering gender equality.
If you have any questions about what we do, or would like to know more, please contact us.
International Women's Day
International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on 8 March.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2024 was “Inspire Inclusion”. It celebrates diversity and aims to emphasise the importance of inclusion in achieving gender equality, focussing on breaking down barriers, challenging stereotypes, and creating environments in which women feel valued and respected.
Fostering inclusion can start by bringing people together, by encouraging conversation. Our starting point for this was an art exhibition. For three weeks, we displayed five works by lawyer and artist, Salome Coker around themes of nature, celebration, movement, and resilience. The physical exhibition in our offices was paired with an online experience. Explore the online exhibition here.
We had also planned a range of other activities.
It has been shown time and again that diverse groups make better decisions. It is crucial that we ensure that people of all genders have equal access to opportunities and an equal chance to progress in their careers. Through GEN, we can work towards identifying and addressing any obstacles that may stand in the way of achieving this goal. Jane Edwarde Partner
PAST EVENTS
GEN has organised a number of events to raise awareness of issues around gender equality, and to celebrate diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
As part of the theme for International Women’s Day 2023 #EmbraceEquity, Simon Nicholls and Jane Edwarde, outline the progress that has been made to increase the number of women in our partnership and in leadership roles. They also explain how the IWD theme challenges us to focus throughout the year on ensuring that we have the right support in place to achieve equity in our workplace.
Equity goes beyond the concept of equal resources or opportunities. It recognises that each person has different circumstances and therefore needs different resources to reach an equal outcome.
Click below to view our video from 2023.
Recognising the importance of intersectionality in understanding people’s different experiences in the workplace and beyond, GEN is proud to work closely with members from across the firm’s employee networks to arrange events exploring different perspectives and issues.
In May 2022, GEN launched an internal podcast series together with the Family Network to highlight the different experiences of members of the firm on their journeys to becoming parents and beyond.
"To mark the International Day of Families, the Family Network and GEN launched an internal 4-part podcast with members of the firm sharing their experiences around having children. This was a hugely rewarding project to be involved in personally, as I was able to air concerns I had around balancing potential children with work and found the podcast episodes deeply reassuring. It was great to open up this conversation with people from all levels of the firm who generously and openly shared their experiences." - Jennifer Nice, Associate
CHARITY SUPPORT
GEN takes opportunities to support charity initiatives that fit with its aims.
Alongside other activities to celebrate International Women’s Day 2024, GEN partnered with the Thrive, the firm's mental health and wellbeing network to fundraise for the Maya Centre, a community-based charity in Islington supporting women on low incomes through free, culturally sensitive counselling, group work and complementary therapies.
Every two years, GEN runs a Breast Cancer Awareness campaign coupled with a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Now. We share below images from a previous “Wear It Pink” initiative. In October 2023, GEN organised the firm’s participation in the “Tour de Law” fundraiser for Breast Cancer Now, a two-day cycling challenge on stationary bikes in our canteen: 102 colleagues cycled an incredible 800km.
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