Our Collective
- An International Network
The Bâtonnières du Monde Collective
Bâtonnières du Monde is an international collective made up of bâtonnières and vice-bâtonnières, currently serving or having previously served in these roles, from bar associations across the four corners of the world.
Founded on the conviction that law is the most powerful lever against discrimination, the collective today brings together dozens of lawyers who have held institutional power - and who have chosen to put their influence at the service of gender equality.
Bâtonnières and vice-bâtonnières, active or former
countries represented across 5 continents
Founded at the Women's Forum
shared conviction: law as a lever for gender equality
Our story
We were born from impatience
24 · 10 · 2024
Paris
Women’s Forum
Théâtre du Châtelet
28
Membres fondatrices
Founding signatory members
15+
Countries represented at the signing
The Birth Certificate: On October 24, 2024, in Paris, Vanessa Bousardo, then Vice-bâtonnière of the Paris Bar, launched the Bâtonnières du monde Appeal and brought together for the first time around twenty bâtonnières and vice-bâtonnières from Geneva, Brussels, Barcelona, Bouira, Odessa, Abidjan, the United Kingdom and Germany. Together, they signed this Appeal – the birth certificate of an unprecedented collective.
The Observation: Bâtonnières du Monde was born out of impatience. Within the legal profession — and beyond — inequalities persist: unequal pay, under-representation in leadership positions, abandonment of the bar mid-career.
45%
of lawyers are women WORLDWIDE
34%
ONLY HOLD LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
The Response: To bring together their expertise, networks and strengths in order to act on an international scale, using law as a tool for influence. In July 2025, the association was officially incorporated under the French law of 1st July 1901.
- The bâtonnières and vice bâtonnières
Multiple paths, one collective voice
The association’s board, supported by the women Bar Presidents and Vice-Presidents who make up the collective. Each new voice broadens our reach.
They support us
Our institutional partners
Join us · Support us
Bâtonnières du Monde belongs to you.
— Join us
You are a bâtonnière, or a vice-bâtonnière.
Currently serving or having previously served in these roles, at the head of a representative institution of the legal profession?
This collective was founded for you — and it can only grow thanks to you. Every voice that joins it broadens its reach, reinforces its legitimacy and brings equality closer to a concrete reality, in every State, in every bar.
— Support us
You share
our convictions.
Whether you are an individual, a company, a foundation or an institution: your support allows us to carry our voice further — within bar associations, institutions and public debates on an international scale.
Get in touch with us. We will get back to you as soon as possible.



