Celebrating Womens Day Women lawyers express their opinion on workplace environment

A glance at today’s headlines still makes us worry whether India is a safe country for women. “A 20-year-old student has been shot outside her college in Dhaula Kuan says NDTV”..A glance at today’s headlines still makes us worry whether India is a safe country for women. “A 20-year-old student has been shot outside her college in Dhaula Kuan says NDTV“..Radhika Tanwar was shot at 10:20 am as she was walking across a pedestrian bridge near the Ramlal Anand College, where she was enrolled..The other headline was however, the rejection of euthanasia application of Nurse Aruna Shanbaug. Aruna, while at work at K.E.M. Hospital (Mumbai) was assaulted and raped by a ward boy working at the same hospital. The ward boy, was caught, convicted and served a mere seven-year sentence for assault and robbery, and not for rape or sexual molestation. The Dean of K.E.M. Hospital concealed the rape and reported robbery and attempted murder, out of concern to spare Aruna and her fiance of facing public disclosure. The incident took place in 1973, and till date Aruna Shanbaug lies in a vegetative state assaulted and raped at her workplace. Recently, a Supreme Court Bench comprising of Justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra (presently the only woman judge in the Supreme Court of India) have denied mercy-killing of Nurse Aruna Shanbaug who has been lying in a vegetative state for 37 years in the same hospital, where she used to work..There is presently only one woman judge in the Supreme Court of India and out of a total of 685 judges in the various High Courts of India, only 57 are women judges..Interestingly on February 26, the Society of Women Lawyers-India (SOWL) was formally launched at an event with the theme “Women and 63 years of the Indian Economy”. Justice Hima Kohli of the Delhi High Court had said, “Any initiative to equalise the status of women in society, whether by men or women, must be applauded”. Justice Hima Kohli is one of the 8 judges in the Delhi High Court, the High Court with the maximum number of women judges..National Law Universities today have almost a 50 percent ratio of women to men. Bar & Bench through a survey had questioned women on Sexual Harassment at workplace in law firms and courts in India. Results revealed shockingly that 80 percent of the advocates (women), we spoke with, had experienced some form of sexual harassment..Bar & Bench reaches out to women lawyers on International Women’s Day and shares their workplace experiences..Kanan Dhru, Founder and Managing Director of the Research Foundation for Governance in India has authored a report on Entry Barriers to Litigation, which also focuses on difficulties faced by women in Courts. She said, “As a woman, I do find it a challenge to be taken seriously – may it be working as a lawyer in the Courts or trying to advocate issues pertaining to legal and political reforms. As a lawyer, for example, many people questioned whether I was practicing because I was waiting to get married or because my father was a lawyer. I would be given only certain types of cases to deal with and mostly research oriented work. Working in courts was also like working in an environment surrounded by men, which was not always very comfortable. The positive side of it was that I was spared to work late nights”..“As a social entrepreneur, being a woman has been a different experience – more encouraging than being a practicing lawyer, but more challenging as well. When you are the one calling shots, you do tend to get the freedom to make choices as per your own wishes, but you also learn to own up the responsibility of the consequences. Sometimes your trusted people can betray you and sometimes support comes from completely unexpected quarters”..However, Poornima Hatti of Narasappa, Doraswamy and Raja who heads litigation for the firm in Bangalore said, “I work in two contrasting work places. My firm has more women lawyers and staff than men, making it an easy and comfortable place for women to work. Women are respected and involved in decision making, ensuring that there is no glass ceiling. It is a pleasure to go work, as I can focus on my professional demands without having to worry about any gender related discrimination”..“On the other hand the Court room spaces are a completely different place – one that is extremely demanding for women. The majority of players in these spaces are men. The ratio of women – as compared to men, both on the bench and as senior practising counsel is still extremely skewed. I feel that as a woman, you have to go that extra mile to ensure that people are giving you a serious hearing be it at the registry, as clients, as opposing counsel and as the judge. There is a long way to go before the balance is corrected”..Kosturi Ghosh, Partner at Trilegal said, “I don’t believe that women have an upper hand at work and neither should they. One should not confuse a support system for special treatment. At the associate level, there is a 50-50 women to men ratio and as one looks up the ladder, one sees that women occupy fewer and fewer positions of power. That is a clear indication that women find it harder and harder to sustain life in a law firm and manage a family at the same time. Many law firms are now awakening to the idea of supporting women and opening up day cares, offering flexi hours, etc. We at Trilegal are trying to understand and adopt the best HR practices of global law firms, including Allen and Overy, such that we can correct our skewed ratios in the time to come”..Juhi Garg, Law Firm Consultant and Partner at Edge International takes the same line as Kosturi Ghosh said, “I, through my experiences and otherwise, feel that being a lady or not doesn’t really matter anymore, and even if it does, it’s only for a couple of introductory minutes. The rest is all about merit, intelligence and perseverance. At workplace you need efficiency and capability, and nothing else matters”..Pooja Sinha, Counsel at O’ Melveny & Myers LLP said, “I don’t believe I have an upper hand as a female corporate lawyer – it in fact means having to deal with additional challenges of all sorts. I have found it incredibly helpful to work for a firm like OMM which has provided me with a network of very supportive colleagues, both male and female, who provide a base of both professional and personal support to deal with these challenges. In addition, working in a highly competitive area like Indian capital markets has meant that ultimately, it is only good lawyering that really matters and is both recognised and rewarded”..Dhwani from Archer & Angel also said, “I don’t quite think there is an upper hand being a lady lawyer, but yes, as for courtesy in public dealing is concerned there is a bit of ‘marginal ease’. By the end of it we are all professionals, once we are at work the “MAN” and or “WE/ WO- Man” hardly makes the difference, it’s the way the work is done- and that’s all that matters. On a separate context, I am proud of all the women who break the “uneasy relationship with power and the traits necessary to be a leader”. We all know that there is this internalized fear that if we are really powerful, we are going to be considered merciless, rude or brash and all those descriptions that strike right at our femininity. I think we, as women, should work at trying to overcome the fear- that power and womanliness are mutually exclusive. I am still working on it”..In the end, Advocate Shiva Lakshmi who practices in the Delhi High Court said, “There are many instances when the Court especially the higher courts are very encouraging towards the women lawyers, but there have been instances where the attitude has not been very favourable. It is definitely a challenge as the Courts are still very much dominated by our male counterparts, nevertheless it has been a good experience”.