Women in Law: Breaking the glass ceiling

Women have made tremendous strides in the legal profession over the years, yet gender bias and discrimination continue to be pervasive issues in many workplaces. Women lawyers and judges still face significant challenges in breaking through the "glass ceiling" and achieving equal representation and opportunities in the field.

Before the Civil War, women's desire to become lawyers was not recorded, but they were denied admission to law schools and permission to practice law. The requirements for admission to the state bar were set by the legislature or supreme court of each state and were typically resistant to change.

In 1869, Arabella Mansfield became the first woman admitted to the Iowa bar. She was allowed to take the bar exam when a liberal Justice expanded the definition of "white male person" to include women. Charlotte Ray, the first African American woman to earn a law degree, broke the racial barrier in 1872 and became the first African American woman lawyer when she passed the bar exam.

Belva Lockwood became the first woman admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1879, and the first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court. However, when she tried to gain admission to the bar in Maryland, a judge dismissed her based on his belief that women were not equal to men.

The story of women lawyers continues to date. The United States Census Bureau recorded that there are more than 400,000 women lawyers who make up just over 1 in 3 (38 percent) lawyers.

In Pakistan, Hina Jilani - a well-known lawyer and human rights activist in Pakistan along with her sister, Asma Jahangir, co-founded Pakistan's first all-female legal practice in 1980. She is also one of the founders of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Women's Action Forum, a pressure group campaigning against Pakistan's discriminatory legislation, as well as the founder of Pakistan's first legal aid centre in 1986. A prominent lawyer and civil society activist for the last three decades, Jilani specializes in human rights litigation and the human rights of women, children, minorities, and prisoners.?

Meanwhile, Tariq Ahmad, Legal Analyst at the Law Library of Congress in an interview with the Library in 2015 put forward that Justice Majida Rizvi was appointed as a first female judge of a High Court in Pakistan. In 2013, Asraf Jahan, became the first female in the history of Pakistan to be appointed as a judge of the Federal Shariah Court. There are no female judges in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Jeniffer Miller, partner at Hamilton, Miller & Birthisel, LLP, on her LinkedIn posted an article the subject of which was "Breaking Glass Ceilings-Challenges Women Lawyers Face". In her article, she discussed various challenges which women face as a lawyer.

Women, especially in Pakistan were kept from working outside apart from their household duties for an exceptionally long time, so the fact that societal view has now evolved and that women now work outside of the home does not completely diminish the fact they still have a long way to go socially and economically.

Gender bias was and is for the longest time engraved in Pakistani society and the way out of it has been and continues to be terribly slow and excruciating for women. This sought of discrimination starts at the recruitment level itself, where most men don't believe that women can work alongside men in all fields. except for a few narrow ones such as teaching, nursing, and clerical work.

Apart from the fact that feminism had rooted itself in Pakistan, certain members of the society only support the cause behind it. In Pakistan, excluding the few female human rights activists, none has shown up in the so-called "male-dominant society" to work for women's rights. Female individuals who speak up do not appear to be speaking for the gender, but rather for their personal fame and greed. To date, only a few Pakistani women had fought for their rights (as a gender) against gender biases and those women had nothing to do with the so-called feminism and feminists. History reveals that the only females who fought for gender belonged to the middle-class and lower-middle class of society. The elites were never a part of such movements.

“One of the greatest advantages of the totalitarian elites of the twenties and thirties was to turn any statement of fact into a question of motive.”

― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism

“History teaches us that all ruling elites try to portray themselves as the natural and durable social order, even ones that are in serious crisis, that threaten to devour their environmental base in order to continually recreate their hierarchical structure of power and privilege. And all ruling elites are scornful and intolerant of alternative viewpoints.”

― Michael Parenti, Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism

Today, feminism in Pakistan has been badly accused and criticised for overemphasising gender differences, negative portrayal of men and certain women, complete discrimination against men and women and disrupting the traditional gender roles, to name a few. The reasons behind these accusations were not raised by the elite men and women of the society but rather by the middle and lower middle class of the society. The wealthy class relishes the benefits that are derived from the labour of the less privileged. The boisterous activism of feminists has not addressed the challenges faced by individuals who truly experience gender discrimination.

Coming to the legal profession, the biggest and foremost deadlock is that there is no official survey done by the government of Pakistan or any other credible organisation on gender discrimination in the field of law. To be clear, only a few per cent of the women in Pakistan constitute the lower judiciary, the higher judiciary and none in the supreme judiciary. Not more than 2% of the elected representatives in the bar councils are women.

Having gone through a video which viral in India, In a matter before the Dehli High Court, Justice Rekha Palli was hearing a case, she was constantly being referred to as "sir" by the lawyer, to which Justice Palli replied "I am not sir. I hope you can make that out" to which the lawyer replied, "Sorry, it's because of the chair you are sitting in". This clearly points out how lawyers in the profession are influenced by gender bias. The same situations occur in Pakistan as well, with only a few judges being women, the lawyers are unaware as to how to address them while standing at the rostrum.

In another instance, the author has noticed that senior male lawyers refer to the female lawyers (especially the young) as "that woman" or "this lady" while they address the other male lawyers mostly as "my learned friend". This kind of discrimination can lead to gender hate and envy and the younger generation of professionals can easily get influenced by such bias.

Unfortunately, young female lawyers in Pakistan and India are sexually harassed and made subject to derogatory remarks on their race, colour, and attire. Inflexible working hours, casual sexism in the courtrooms, and a toxic working environment has made the legal profession a man's world. Women lawyers and judges are constantly judged and questioned on their attire, conduct, and abilities. In a patriarchal society like Pakistan, where women are considered subordinates, men often find it hard to see a woman taking charge or holding the same titles as they do.

As mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs, the unwelcomeness of the judicial infrastructure poses a great challenge and problem. This discourages women professionals as anyone who works would expect the bear minimum services at their place of work.

Clients usually tend to hire a male representative because they believe that women might not make every effort to represent them in court because of their family commitments or personal issues. Women lawyers are nearly always judged and compared to their male counterparts. Women are frequently compelled to prioritise their personal and work life. They must choose between getting married and receiving a promotion, which is a very tangible choice that a woman must or is expected to make because of the social connotations that come with being a woman.

There is a need for change, while some female lawyers tend to criticise everything, there are women who are still working actively and I am glad that have had the opportunity to observe them. Changes need to be made on the grassroots level onward. Both the working environment and the justice system must be remodelled so that there exists a friendly environment for female professionals too, who can work freely without any interference. The judiciary must not have reservations about women. While exploring I found nothing from Pakistan's judiciary on the change, I did find a press conference of the former Chief Justice of India wherein he stated that "The representation of women in a judiciary is not a matter of clarity but of right". Women who criticise every act in the court premises, courtroom and law firms as part of their feminist concepts must not do so as their criticism leads to distracting others who are working normally. Pakistani society does have loopholes due to illiteracy, and societal and cultural values, but it doesn't mean that every woman is criticised or expected she will not be going out and working on her toes all day long in the courts and office.

As of right now, our institution has so far failed horribly to safeguard diversity; and hence must strive relentlessly to provide justice to those who have been wronged.