Transformation, Not Tokenism: A Cultural Shift for Law and Justice through Women in Leadership

Difference She Makes movement reached over 6 million people across Africa, driving a cultural shift in Africa’s legal and justice sector, where women in law can enter, grow, and thrive in leadership roles.

Date: 5th December, 2025

Across Africa, reports, including those from the International Bar Association, show a surge in women entering the legal profession, but leadership opportunities have not kept pace. Africa leads on progressive gender policies in law and justice, on entry-level and representation numbers in law firms, corporate counsels, the public sector, and the judiciary. Yet, the challenge is two-fold: women in many countries continue to be under-represented at the top, and where women are present, culture and norms hold them back.

Difference She Makes aims to close that gap — not merely by celebrating the numbers, but by building institutional accountability for cultural shifts that enable, equip, and empower women across generations to thrive.

Started in 2025, Dierence She Makes is a Pan-African movement that recognises the stories of individuals and institutions that mark progress and oer key lessons learnt from decades of progress, and disrupting cultural, normative, and narrative barriers and existing practices that stop women coming into law, and practicing it, from achieving their best.

These same barriers often keep women, irrespective of background and context, from meaningful leadership and decision-making roles, despite progressive policies being in place.

Difference She Makes is a multi-platform movement rooted in stories and dialogues from the Continent working towards advancing women in leadership in Law and Justice. By harnessing the power of storytelling, art and culture, solidarity and intergenerational dialogues, the movement has reached over 6 million people across the continent already, and is active in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, with a pan-African lens for regional resonance and shared learning.

“This campaign is a timely intervention. While women continue to enter the legal profession in record numbers, their leadership is still held back by persistent structural and cultural constraints. This campaign brings those realities to the surface, not simply toacknowledge the gaps, but to drive accountability and reimagine environments where women in law can lead and thrive.” – Irene, Kerubo, Difference She Makes

Why this work matters: Narratives and movements that push against cultural resistance to progressive policies of gender equality and women in leadership in Law are critical today.

The campaign challenges the widespread myth that gender equity has already been achieved and instead shines a spotlight on the structural and cultural obstacles that continue to hold women back, including:

• ●  Transformation over tokenism: Moving beyond symbolic representation to meaningful participation and influence.
• ●  Institutional accountability over individual burden: Placing responsibility on systems—not on women—to create equitable environments.
• ●  Transparent systems over exclusive power networks: Ensuring fairness, openness, and equal access to opportunities.
• Advocate Susan Musambaki reflected, “Difference She Makes amplifies our collective voice to make legal spaces more inclusive and truly reflective of women’s leadership.”
• Difference She Makes is powered by leading legal voices and partner organizations committed to advancing women’s leadership in law. From trailblazers such as Linda Kasonde, Zambia’s first female Bar Association President, to young Nigerian lawyer Becky Dike, South African human rights lawyer Tamika Thumbiran, retired Judge Mohini Moodley, and Kenyan Advocate of the High Court Natasha Ali Errey, a new generation of leaders is at the forefront of this movement.
• With partners and platforms such as Legally Clueless, Drunken Lectures, Nalafem, East Africa Media Group, and more, the campaign is building a continent-wide coalition for real and lasting change.
• South African journalist Ntombi Nkosi highlighted visibility and recognition: “This initiative is a commitment to ensure that women in law are not just included, but visible, respected, and celebrated.”
• To date, Difference She Makes has undertaken key initiatives across the continent, including:

1. • Elevating and amplifying women’s stories: Through Adelle Onyango’s award-winning Legally Clueless podcast, a first-of-its-kind journalist–lawyer fellowship, and a powerful digital series, we are exposing the invisible barriers in Africa’s legal systems while spotlighting the women breaking them. The first episode is with Anne Ireri, Chief Executive Oicer at the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya.
3. • Advocacy from a Pan-African to global level: Difference She Makes, in partnership with NALAFEM, will drive a coordinated advocacy agenda that elevates Africa’s progress, best practices, and persistent barriers in women’s leadership in law. Through regional convenings across the continent, the campaign will create spaces for evidence-based dialogue, policy engagement, and shared learning among legal actors, civil society, and reform champions. These insights and commitments will then be amplified on the global stage at the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), ensuring that Africa’s voice, innovations, and calls to action inform—and influence—international conversations on gender equality in justice systems.
5. • Off the Table, On the Record Series: Through curated safe-space dialogues and culturally resonant moments, this series brings together women, allies, and key decision-makers to engage openly on issues that are often overlooked or avoided. By creating intentional spaces for honest reflection, shared experience, and collective problem-solving, the series surfaces the realities shaping women’s journeys in law—what remains o the table in formal systems and what must be placed on the record to drive lasting change.
7. •The Voice and Verdict Fellowship: Under Difference She Makes, this three-month-long, first-of-its-kind Pan-African initiative brings together six fellows — three journalists and three legal professionals — from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The fellowship confronts tokenism, institutional bias, and opaque power structures by demanding real transformation—not symbolic inclusion. Together, the fellows will collaborate on investigative storytelling that challenges outdated norms, reveals systemic bias, and reimagines the path to gender-equal justice. The fellows include legal professionals Susan Musambaki – Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, Judith Anukie Ojovbo – Legal Oicer, Signature Bank, Nigeria, and Mpho Mokgehle – Director, Mokgehle Mohlala Aorneys, South Africa, and journalists Ntombi Nkosi – Journalist, African Times, South Africa, Lucy Riley – International Multimedia Correspondent, Deutsche Welle & BBC Focus on Africa, Kenya, and Isioma Joseph Madike – Investigative Journalist, New Telegraph Newspapers, Lagos, Nigeria.

Follow the fellowship investigations and upcoming convenings at @DifferenceSheMakes on LinkedIn and Instagram, and visit our website at hps://www.differenceshemakes.com/ for more information.

Media Contact:

Ines Rutayisire Umurerwa

ines@eamgtv.com

Irene Kerubo

Irene@dierenceshemakes.com

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