Women and the Law

Women and the Law
AuthorSusan Atkins and Brenda Hale
Publication date
1984
ISBN9781911507123

Women and the Law is a 1984 book by Susan Atkins and Brenda Hale (then known as Brenda Hoggett).[1][2] The authors described the book as the first published in the United Kingdom to "comprehensively to examine the gendered nature of the law itself and the legal inter-relationships between women's private and public lives and between men and women". Hoggett and Atkins felt that the book "...took women's experiences in life as its starting point, rather than conventional legal categories".[3]

In a 2004 profile of Hale, The Guardian described Women and the Law as "the first comprehensive survey of women's rights at work, in the family and in the state".[4] The book concluded by stating that "Deep-rooted problems of inequality persist and the law continues to reflect the economic, social and political dominance of men".[4]

The book was republished in 2018 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 that allowed women to become solicitors in the United Kingdom.[5]

  1. ^ Hilaire Barnett (26 March 1996). Sourcebook on Feminist Jurisprudence. Cavendish Publishing. p. 379. ISBN 978-1-84314-284-3.
  2. ^ Frances Olsen (October 1995). Feminist Legal Theory. NYU Press. p. 359. ISBN 978-0-8147-6186-1.
  3. ^ Erika Rackley; Rosemary Auchmuty (27 December 2018). Women's Legal Landmarks: Celebrating the history of women and law in the UK and Ireland. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-78225-979-4.
  4. ^ a b Clare Dyer (9 January 2004). "The Guardian profile: Lady Brenda Hale". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  5. ^ Catherine Baksi (12 December 2018). "Susan Atkins: 'We must take the threat to women in public life seriously'". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2019.