Female lawyers seek space in profession

LAHORE - Out of around 1,500 total female lawyers in the City, only four to five hundred are actually practicing in various courts due to a number of problems faced by them, the most important being the discouraging attitude of their male colleagues at the very start of their profession.

A survey conducted by The Nation revealed that female lawyers were finding it hard to continue in their profession due to numerous problems including transportation, odd working hours, lack of family support, discouraging attitude of male colleagues and harassment from rival clients, mostly in criminal cases.

“In corporate and banking sectors, males encourage their female colleagues, but unfortunately, this is not the case in our profession”, said Advocate Bushra Anwar while complaining about the discouraging attitude of male lawyers.

“You are misfit in a profession, where you just go and do something else, as it’s not the game for you to find the ground for it..... “ye machhli mandi hai....kurye taiynu ki pata qanoon da,  toon kis tarah lar sakani ae, toon kis tarah court dy wichh bolain gi”,...such remarks are from passed by male colleagues, said Mariyum Ishaq, a young female Advocate in LHC.

“When I joined the profession I really got disappointed by the attitude of male lawyers”, said Maryam, who deals in criminal cases.  

Talking about the attitude of male colleagues, Advocate Bushra Anwar, who is practising in Lahore High Court (LHC) for seven years said, male lawyers usually have negative opinion about female lawyers, as they highly doubt their professional competence and the required courage to deal with difficult criminal cases.