Dana Denis-Smith, Founder of Obelisk Support and First 100 Years/Next 100 Years campaigns.
It was a great pleasure to celebrate International Women’s Day this year in the company of some remarkable women. I had the honour of speaking with Her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara, a Circuit Judge, Deputy High Court Judge and Co-Chair of the Temple Women’s Forum; Dana Denis-Smith, Founder of Obelisk Support and the First 100 Hundred Years/Next 100 Years campaigns; and Laurie-Anne Power, barrister at Bedford Row Chambers and Chair of the Women in Criminal in Law’s Racial Equality Committee.
Questions we explored were:
Why is it important for women to share and record our life stories and to create a legacy of our lives?
How can women’s networks and campaigns help to support and empower women, professionally and personally?
What is most meaningful and helpful to pass on to younger women who are starting out in their legal careers or aspiring to become lawyers?
Our conversation was part of a special online event which was co-hosted by the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies University of Oxford and the Next 100 Years campaign. It was the culmination of an oral history research project on Inspiring Women Lawyers I carried out with Oxford’s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies Director Professor Linda Mulcahy, in collaboration with National Life Stories British Library.
As part of the research study, I conducted life story interviews with Her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara, Dana Denis-Smith, Laurie-Anne Power, as well as Professor Rosemary Hunter, legal academic and co-founder of the Feminist Judgements Project UK; and Catherine Flint, barrister at Queen Square Chambers and Committee Member of the Western Circuit Women’s Forum.
The full audio interview recordings will soon be available to listen to at the British Library Sound Archive.
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