It has been 6 months since I launched my new business …
I am feeling so thankful and fortunate, as a mature woman, to be where I am today. I have my independence to be the person I want to be and the freedom to offer my own legal services.
My logo bears one of the oldest, but still my favourite legal symbol, the scales of justice, and seeing it in my logo has stirred me to reflect on my legal career to date, with much gratitude. I am thankful to be born into a family in a progressing Australian society, where education was valued not just for sons, but also for daughters. I have been lucky … that as a young girl I was empowered to follow the path of education and independence.
Unfortunately, these opportunities are not even possible in many cultures world-wide where girls as young as 12 or 13 are removed from school to be sold to marriage, where genital mutilation occurs, domestic violence is accepted and women are uneducated and trapped in poverty and abuse. Zonta International and the Zonta Foundation for Women have been working for more than 100 years to try to redress this type of inequality women suffer in many third-world countries. In partnership with Unicef, in recent years they have worked on the Global Program to End Child Marriage, with an understanding that keeping girls in school is of paramount importance in balancing the inequality and giving women independence and choice.
As a result of the COVID-19 crisis of 2020, the gender inequalities and disadvantages women suffer have been amplified. In April 2020 the United Nations Policy Brief was issued on The Impact of COVID-19 on Women, which concluded that world-wide, women were more adversely affected than men, in terms of poverty, health, domestic violence and an increase in unpaid work. At a local level, I love being a member of Zonta Brisbane City Heart. While also contributing to the international work, we focus on the local Brisbane community to empower young women and girls reach their full potential. We provide scholarships to young women to assist with their studies in various areas. We are always looking for new opportunities, doing our best to take down the barriers and empower local girls and women to the path of education and independence.
Now in my business, I have the opportunity to represent women who have suffered workplace prejudice and discrimination.
For me, the ‘scales of justice’ in my new logo are not just an historic ideal. They remind me how important it is to keep working in our local community, to legally represent women in need, as we all work towards a better future where women can reach their full potential.
