Challenges Faced by Women Lawyers In India

Author name: Kajal Rai, College name: Oriental Law College, Navi Mumbai

Introduction

Our constitution is nominated as “female first” and the right to equivalency is every woman’s right. Society may have taken some preventive measures against this discrimination but challenges faced by women persist and recognition remains invisible. It is intolerable that the same part of the constitution’s female lawyers are facing multitudinous difficulties to survive in the world of the legal profession.

In India, gender demarcation has always been an endless wall in every sector of services. Men are not willing to work with women alongside as manly pride plays a vital part and due to that women tend to claim for low-paid and lesser deserving jobs indeed if they are very much skilled because they are underrated and underestimated. Men have always pictured women as their challengers since the very long period when women have become the victims of such discrimination in society. According to the Male lawyers, they do not want to watch any other female lawyer in the same position as a male lawyer in a legal profession as it will break the hierarchy of a men-dominated profession. Every year many females aspire to become lawyers who are ready to mark their name in the legal field while graduating with a successful degree in law with dreams in their eyes. Once they step into the practical field of law they question to themselves where are the equality rights which they inherit since their birth as Indian Citizens.

If we empower women to work outside the house without expecting men to work inside the house, then we aren’t empowering women. We’re exploiting them. -Farida D.

Indian legal system is being recalled as a KINGDOM

Comparatively, in our history, The number of women who are contributing towards justice is adding to the legal profession which is turning out in positive numbers which shows a new change today. Female lawyers who attain further knowledge and skill are chopping their way through male lawyers but still, they aren’t getting their meritorious position professionally, all they get is cheap remarks and mockings of being a Female lawyer this increase in number only on quantity grounds, and not on quality grounds, due to the wall of a glass ceiling, where male lawyers and the male judiciary are recalled as more significant and superior to their female counterparts.

No matter how advanced India is becoming today, the mentality of men in the legal world of not letting another woman reach their goals or not even lending them a helpless hand is still a problem in every Court and Law firm. In the court of India that is our litigation sector, it can be observed that the bar rooms ratio is almost 70-30, 70% are men and 30% women whereas if we go at the senior levels of judges and attorneys one can observe that the percentage of the women gender decreases up to 7-8%. What is worse perception is that women are for the weak and men are for the toughest. Due to this perception and society-made facts, The legal world which provides equal protection and equal pay to every citizen of India has failed to provide equality and protection to our female lawyers who work as hard as male coworkers as a part of the legal world itself. Can we remark it as justice served? Or is Justice denied?

Primary Challenges that Every Female lawyer faces in day to day life

Infrastructure and work environment – This plays a vital role in the safety of a woman. As per the surveys taken by many about the changes that need to be done for women, The court infrastructure has not been constructed keeping men and women both in mind. Many female lawyers face safety issues in men-dominated bar rooms and chambers, No proper seating arrangements have been reserved for women in many courts. There are no proper basic facilities provided like female toilets and restrooms which raises a big concern.
Wage gap discrimination- No matter if the female lawyers are equally skilled and equally educated as male lawyers they still don’t get paid the same amount. It is pointed out by the critics that unchallenging work is given to a female as they are very fragile in the eyes of the men. They are likely to receive low salaries in law firms as the seniors interpret that they might resign from the firm soon.
Gender-biased clients- The issue arises not in inside the court community of India but the society as well. We still live in a society where many men still have this mentality that a woman has no sense of mind and that they should sit at home taking care of the household. So many male clients try to approach more male lawyers assuming that they are more competent compared to female lawyers.
Workplace harassment – Sexual harassment is always a universal challenge for every female. Female lawyers also tend to get sexual harassment either from male clients or their seniors. These men try to exploit women as they feel they inherit the power over females. Female lawyers due to fear of damage to their career and reputation drawback their complaints but the one who files a complaint against the Law firm often gets terminated from her position.
Post-maternity leave effects- Researchers through many surveys have concluded that female lawyers face tremendous obligations during their post-maternity period as through surprise findings more than 54% of female lawyer’s careers in the litigation sector and 75% of female lawyers in Law firms were adversely affected. Law firms and courts are still lagging in providing proper childcare facilities and maternity relief because female lawyers are struggling to manage stability in their careers.
Networking – Due to the informal networking opportunities like social events organized by often males are mostly not accessible to female lawyers.
Worklife and personal life balance- Female lawyers face bigger challenges while balancing their work life on one hand and personal life on the other. Women are forced to choose between their careers and their family. Female lawyers have not been provided with time flexibility which they suffer to please their seniors and family at the same time. Due to no family support and often remarks passed down in both worlds, Female lawyers are forced to leave their positions either as household women or working women. The lack of social and emotional support towards women, Women lawyers are thriving to become Independent and successful females and move towards achieving their goals in the legal profession.
Bias in judicial appointment- Legal firms, Senior lawyers, Or for senior appointments on higher class, Due to the male dominance in courtrooms only men are being appointed by the judiciary itself. Then have the preference of hiring men who stand a wall for a female lawyer’s of not gaining her leadership. Even a chief justice acknowledged that the country’s courtroom is still not filled with enough seats with women on higher judiciary levels.

Supreme Court of India order of `GENDER SENSITIZATION’ for Lawyers and Judges

The Supreme Court has already constituted its Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee, In which especially Rule 4 of the Regulations 2013 protects against Sexual harassment of women. The reconstituted provision by SC in 2023 has made sure that every Law firm and court including every workplace should prioritize spreading awareness and prevent itself of sexual harassment by conducting Training Sessions and setting up programs while keeping proper track of it. Going through all the procedures the GSICC has made a yearlong training programme. To simplify the awareness of GSICC and POSH regulations SC has contributed a great impact on all the legal fields for women.

Conclusion: NEED FOR CHANGE

Legal character has always been of utmost importance to our country, Though it should also be knee to give utmost importance to our female lawyers as they should also be considered as the backbone of our justice system equally to Men in the system. This inequality has immensely come across the eyes of the chief justice who observed this huge disparity in the legal system of India. The above challenges have been dealt with and faced by most female lawyers, still, the participation of female lawyers in their day-to-day legal journey is commendable. With an increasing number of Law schools and universities and with the attraction towards serving justice to the wrongs, Women are leaning more towards advocacy and playing a remarkable role in comparison with their male counterparts. However, Female lawyers are still facing major issues in reaching the higher class of the judiciary. In the higher class of judiciary panel reservations and seats for women still do not tend to exist. Why are we still lagging in our legal world to provide equal treatment to males and females? The change needs to be brought into action!

The work environment for female lawyers should be made more habitable so that they do not feel that their safety has been hijacked by their judiciary. Having more non-biased gender representation in our Indian Judiciary System would allow us to set a key example and have a more contextual lens in our society for gender inequality issues. This will not only gender neutralize our legal system but will also help to gender neutralize our society. Female lawyers have equal rights and protection the same as any male lawyers and their rights should not be jeopardised.

Hence, It is quintessential to foster a shift in the legal culture with diversity and to contribute towards the betterment of Female legal practitioners by addressing the challenges faced by them which will help the legal system to become a pool of diverse talents for a profitable future where the justice will finally be served. As our constitution says, “EVERYONE IS EQUAL IN THE EYES OF LAW”.

[1] https://main.sci.gov.in/pdf/GSICCReport/02042024_112037.pdf (last visited 25th June 2024)

[2] https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/women-lawyers-fear-pregnancy-may-stall-their-careers-survey/story-IvzesggaliSkPdlywLFanL_amp.html (last visited 25th June 2024)

[3] https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2024/06/01/supreme-court-re-constitutes-gender-sensitisation-and-internal-complaints-committee/amp/ (last visited 25th June 2024)