Lawyers working in the legal aid and advice sectors are being urged to join forces to help colleagues and clients going through the perimenopause and menopause by signing up to a new support network.
The new network, called PAMELA, was announced by solicitor Dr Laura Janes at the Legal Aid Practitioners Group’s flagship conference last month.
Janes told the conference that women account for 70% of the legal aid sector. ‘We need to support each other and share experiences and ideas, and not just us but our clients. There will be clients going through the [menopause and perimenopause] too, and it will affect their presentation and needs,’ the conference heard.
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In a LinkedIn post last week, Janes said: ‘Legal aid and advice work is literally fuelled by women… It is also highly stressful, which does not combine well with the anxiety and other symptoms that so often affect women going through the perimenopause and beyond. And we are under resourced: so much of the menopause support is focused on corporate entities or big institutions.’
Once enough people have signed up, Janes said a launch event will be held in the New Year. Women’s health expert Kate Muir, author of the book Everything You Need to Know About the Menopause (but were too afraid to ask) will attend the first online event.
