“There has been a running gender disparity between men and women, whether in litigation practice or in law firms. Women lawyers frequently report that they are faced with gender bias, stereotyping, struggle to maintain a work-life balance, disparity in salary and harassment at the workplace.” “The 'Old Boys Club' continues to operate at different levels, perhaps more subtly these days, creating an impediment for the women practitioner.” Justice Hima Kohli noted at a fireside discussion on 'Inclusion and Empowerment'.
It is quite evident from the very few numbers of women in law firms, litigation, judiciary that there is something which hampers the women participation and representation in the field of law. Rightly noted and remarked by Justice Kohli that there’s a boys club operating at different levels.
The Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud has also pointed out the need for inclusion of gender diversity in judiciary which seems to be male dominated.
In High Courts of different states only 11.5% judges are women and in the Supreme Court there are three sitting women judges out of 28 in office.
As far as advocates are concerned, out of 1.7 million advocates registered, merely 15% are women. These numbers show the current scenario of the stereotype associated with women joining this profession.
It has been observed that the percentage of women as law graduates has been increasing however they do not pursue the profession after graduation or leave after a short span of time. This shows that they face gender biasness in the field and feel not welcomed. The legal profession has been dominated by men alike many other professions in India and that seems to be the reason behind society’s reluctance in accepting women as lawyers, judges etc.
When India became independent, the Indian Constitution gave its people the right to equality, including protection from discrimination based on gender when pursuing their chosen careers or obtaining an education. Despite this advantage, women have not increasingly chosen to work in law or it might not be wrong to say that they have not been welcomed to pursue the legal profession.
During a farewell ceremony organised by the Bar Council of India in 2021, former CJI Ramana admitted that the legal profession has yet to welcome women into its fold because the majority of them struggle within the field (BCI). He noted that one would expect to see at least 50% female representation at all levels after 75 years of freedom, but we've only been able to reach 11% female presence on the Supreme Court bench. Some states may have a higher representation due to the reservation policy. The reality, though, is that women must continue to be welcomed into the legal profession, according to the former Chief Justice.
It is sad to see that despite the fact that previously male-dominated fields including surgery, the civil service, law, management, entrepreneurship, and politics have long begun to be impacted by feminism, the gender bias and challenges for women are preventing women from reaching the optimum representation in the legal field.
Justice Hima Kohli suggested some measures to check the disparity in inclusion but all those measures might become infructuous if there is no change in the mindset of the society. Change in the outlook would help in eradication of the root cause of the same.
Ayushi Raghuwanshi is a Professor of law at Manipal University, Jaipur. The views are the author's own.
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