Pakistani Women & the Legal Profession
The other day at
Kinnaird College, Lahore, I participated
as a judge along with noted jurists
and figures including Aitzaz Ahsan,
Khalid Ranjha, Shafqat Mahmood and Jawad
Hassan at a moot court trial on “Freedom
of Expression”. The issue was
the parameters of the Government’s
authority to circumscribe freedom of
expression.
It was a brilliant performance by an
all-female cast of journalism students
of Kinnaird College playing the roles
of lawyers, witnesses and court reporters.
It demonstrated homework and teamwork
along with an effective display on how
to prepare a case and how to present
it. In content, strategy, style, court
etiquette and pace, the participants
looked the part of seasoned trial attorneys
and expert witnesses. Those who fulminate
about the paucity of talent in Pakistan
were suitably edified during the proceedings.
It is fashionable now to talk the battle
of ideas but the battle can only be
fought if there are contestants in the
thinking arena. Foremost among the analytical
fields is the profession of law.
Pakistan itself is the gift of a lawyer.
At its best, the legal profession hones
reasoning and logic while concurrently
promoting a sense of civic duty, as
well as awareness of individual obligations
and rights. Law, along with media and
academia, form the tripod for molding
and influencing public opinion.
There are signs emerging that young
Pakistani women have the commitment
to make a difference. Law provides them
the equipment to do so. Worldwide, there
has been a marked increase in the number
of women attracted to law. In the United
States and Australia, the majority of
the students at law schools now are
women. Their presence is also being
felt in the workplace. In the US, women
today represent 14 percent of general
counsels at major US corporations, one-fifth
of the federal judges, one-third of
law school faculties and one-third of
the legal profession overall. And their
presence is growing. Unlike the situation
only a generation ago, new women lawyers
are no longer dependent on men for their
advancement, but increasingly have women
mentors, role models, and sponsors.
The increased presence of women on the
legal scene is changing the legal profession.
There is evidence that the increasing
entry of women in law is bringing more
civility to the profession. Male lawyers
have come under pressure to elevate
their decorum and conduct.
Women also are having an impact in making
the workplace more cognizant of maintaining
a balance between work and family. And
women have found that the legal profession
is unusually receptive to married women,
especially those with children. Labor
studies consistently show that women
lawyers can more successfully work part-time
or voluntarily “drop out”
from the workplace due to family obligations
and re-enter at will than other professionals.
In fact, one study reported that over
40 percent of unemployed women lawyers
re-entered the legal workforce more
than 20 years after graduation, as opposed
to only 6 percent of female physicians.
This suggests that skill obsolescence
and lack of employment opportunity is
less of a barrier for female lawyers
in re-entering the workforce, especially
late in their careers.
There is also anecdotal evidence that
women lawyers and women judges are less
susceptible to pecuniary temptations.
Two World Bank-sponsored studies concluded
that women were less likely than men
to condone corruption and were less
likely to be involved in bribery. Both
studies found that the greater the representation
of women in parliament, the lower the
level of corruption.
Also, since most of the women lawyers
come from the middle class, they strengthen
the middle class virtues of competence,
integrity, diligence and merit.
In Pakistan, the gulf between male and
female students is widening. The girls
are proving to be more disciplined,
showing greater concentration with fewer
distractions. The academic results now
speak for themselves.
The main hurdles may come from rampant
materialism which drives and disfigures
societal values and drives away many
with the inclination to contribute and
from restrictive and unyielding views
on women’s roles in the workplace.
If young Pakistani women can surmount
these pressures, the nation can become
a nursery of Muslim thinkers who can
fight and compete in the battle of ideas.
