The legal profession in India has long been a male-dominated field, but the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, is calling for change. Speaking at an event in Mayiladuthurai last month, Justice Chandrachud highlighted the “abysmal” ratio of women to men in the legal profession and stressed the importance of providing equal opportunities for women. He noted that while there is no shortage of talented women lawyers, statistics reveal that for every 50,000 male enrolments in Tamil Nadu, there are only 5,000 female enrolments. In his speech, the Chief Justice urged the legal profession to move away from gender-based stereotypes and create a more level playing field, where women are not penalized for taking on familial responsibilities. As the legal profession undergoes a phase of transformation, Justice Chandrachud believes that providing creche facilities at the High Court and all district courts can go a long way in improving working conditions and providing substantive equal opportunities for women.
The legal profession in India has been male-dominated for a long time, and women’s admittance into the legal system was only made possible after protracted legal fights. The Indian Constitution confers fundamental and constitutional rights to safeguard the empowerment of women in society as a key to development. However, until the past two decades, the legal profession was not a preferred profession for women due to concerns such as the lack of a work-life balance, the lack of growth opportunities, and the lack of representation in top-tier firms. According to a World Bank study in 2019, India has the smallest share of women on the bench among the 122 countries with at least one female justice in higher judiciary. India has only three women judges in a Supreme Court of 34 judges and just 73 women judges in high courts. A study by Vidhi in 2022, revealed that women judges make up 36.45 per cent of judges who entered the lower judiciary through direct examination, the percentage dramatically drops to 11.75 per cent at the level of District Judges.
The IDIA’s Diversity Survey Report 2020-21 revealed that the percentage of female students entering legal education in the top 5 National Law Universities ranges from 30-45 per cent. Further, in August last year, the Department of Legal Affairs (DoLA) published State-wise data on the number of female advocates enrolled in the country as part of its response to a question posed in Lok Sabha on the number of women lawyers in the country. The data revealed a rather obvious ratio of around 20 : 3, with 3 representing females.
The calculation was based on data provided by State Bar Councils on the total number of advocates enrolled and the number of female advocates therein for their respective States. Looking at the data, it can be seen that out of 24 State Bar Councils, only 15 have provided the number of women lawyers, whereas the rest have only mentioned the total number of registered lawyers. Firstly, this absence of data on women lawyers’ percentage suggests that their representation is low. Secondly, if calculated from the percentage of female advocates vis-a-vis the total number of advocates is an inaccurate representation since it fails to account for the missing data from some of the largest Bar Councils i.e., Delhi and Bihar.
This lack of information in the table can be taken positively as well, since the percentage of women is actually higher, i.e., 23.55 per cent when we consider only the 15 states that provided the bifurcation. Nevertheless, women were underrepresented among law school graduates, legal consultants, and in the legal profession in general.
Gender Gap in Law firms vis-a-vis Litigation
According to available data, women make up an average of 30 per cent of the partnership at 30 top Indian law firms. However, only 23 per cent of those firms have a senior gender ratio above 40 per cent, and in a third of firms, it’s below 20 per cent. Among the top 100 corporate dealmakers, only a few women are in leadership positions. S&R Associates and Rajani Associates have more balanced gender ratios, with 46 per cent and 45 per cent women partners, respectively. AZB & Partners, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas are also above the average, with between 35 per cent and 37 per cent women partners. In terms of litigation, a study entitled “Challenges Faced by Indian Women Legal Professionals” found that women only make up 15 per cent of senior lawyers in law firms. Further, the Bar Council of India and the State Bar Councils are responsible for regulating and representing the legal profession, but only 9 out of 18 State Bar Council representatives are women.
The gender gap increases in Litigation, and the reason behind this could be the long working hours and low early income in Litigation. As per a study by Vidhi, the average earnings of a lawyer for the first two years practising in a High Court is between ₹5,000-20,000, which is not sufficient to even cover the cost of rent in most cities. By the time a woman lawyer is able to establish herself, familial responsibilities in the form of moving cities on account of marriage, childcare etc., come in the way of her professional growth as litigation is often location specific. Given this trajectory, most women lawyers perhaps view litigation as an unviable career option.
Gender disparity one of the big reasons that stop women from representing themselves in the Indian Judiciary. According to CJI Ramana, of 17 lakh advocates, only 15 percent are women, and even elected disciplinary bodies for lawyers, such as the state Bar councils, have only two percent of women members. Despite increasing female representation in law schools and entry-level legal positions over the past few decades, structural segregation of women in this male-dominated profession perpetuates large disparities between the career trajectories of male and female lawyers.
Support services for pregnant women in courts
Justice D Y Chandrachud, called for institutional support for women who want to balance work with family care and stressed the need to create equal opportunities for women. In 2018, the Ministry of Women and Child Development issued National Minimum Guidelines for setting up and running creches under the Maternity Benefit Act, 2017. The guidelines state that the location of the creche facility should be at the workplace or within 500 meters from the premises of the establishment. They also provide for the appointment of one creche personnel along with one helper for every 10 children in the age group of below 3 years and for every 20 children in the age group of 3 to 6 years. The Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court have also taken steps to set up creche facilities for the benefit of female members of the Bar. The Bombay High Court has also asked the state government to provide creche facilities at all its courts for the convenience of women judicial officers.
Comparative Analysis with Sri Lanka
The gender gap in the legal field in Sri Lanka is less than in India. According to the 2017 statistics of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, women lawyers outnumber men, and out of 1,097 lawyers admitted as attorneys at law in that year, 65 per cent were women. Women also comprise almost one-third of the total number of judges in Sri Lanka and have served as Chief Justices of the Supreme Court. The legal profession in Sri Lanka has undergone significant change, with rapidly rising numbers of women among its members. Studies suggest that the entry and advancement of women in the legal profession in Sri Lanka have impacted the internal structures of the profession and its culture. In contrast, India has a low representation of women in the judiciary. A study on female legal professionals in India reveals that the quantity of women in the legal field is significantly rising, indicating a positive shift in societal attitudes. Nevertheless, this growth is limited to numbers and not quality. The unsettling truth is that a vast majority of women professionals struggle to obtain cases, resulting in low incomes. Further, although the representation of women in legal practice in Sri Lanka is increasing, a comparable trend can be observed in Sri Lanka, where the increase in women legal professionals is predominantly quantitative rather than qualitative.
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