By Mapula Sedutla – acting editor
The admission supplements that accompany De Rebus twice a year record the names of many women completing articles and being admitted to practise as attorneys. The pages of this journal – in the ‘People and Practices’ section – depict an increasing number of women practitioners becoming, professional assistants, associates and senior associates at their firms. There are noticeably fewer photographs of women becoming partners or directors.
At the Women’s Conference hosted by the Law Society of the Northern Provinces in August this year – on which we report on p 11 of this issue – Minister Lindiwe Sisulu noted that ‘[t]he questions that then must be asked are: What specific challenges do women in particular face in the legal profession that constitute a barrier to their advancement in the same way that men advance?’
Johannesburg High Court Judge Margaret Victor asked why, 19 years into democracy, there are still only two female judges on the Constitutional Court Bench? Johannesburg attorney Thina Siwendu went further to outline the difficult and uncomfortable instances of ‘entrenched racism, patriarchy, misogynist behaviour and thinking, and sometimes outright insults and instances of sexual harassment ranging from references to physicality to things that are profoundly painful to women and that this happens behind closed doors.’
These questions and issues are repeated in numerous forums. Why are women not progressing to and remaining in sufficient numbers in the senior ranks in the profession, and very importantly, why are they not adequately present on decision-making bodies, particularly those relating to the organised profession? Why don’t they want to make themselves available to be interviewed for vacancies on the Bench?
In 1995 in the article titled ‘Women lawyers need to find their voices’ we noted that the challenges faced by women in the profession ‘demand[s] the urgent creation of a strong, united, national women lawyers’ lobby. This group should scrutinise statistics, trends, barriers and perceptions.’ That was 18 years ago. The questions remain unanswered and the perceptions remain.
The profession must engage urgently with the representation and role of women within it. The new dispensation being ushered in by the Legal Practice Bill will require it to put forward demographically representative nominees on the National Consultative Forum (the transitional body that will be tasked to thrash out the hard issues still to be settled once the Bill is passed) and, following that, on the National Legal Practice Council. The voices of female practitioners must be heard on those bodies.
Tell us
What do you think? Do we require a survey or study into the challenges being faced by female legal practitioners? Or do you agree with the school of thought that believes female practitioners do not require a specific lobby or separate consideration, and that women can compete on the same level playing field as their male colleagues? Let us know by e-mailing derebus@derebus.org.za.
End of an era
Sadly, the ‘Recent articles and research’ column on p 64 will be the last Professor Henk Delport writes for De Rebus. On behalf of the profession, we would like to thank Professor Delport for his 38 years of writing a dependable and valuable column. For Professor Delport’s view on contributing to the journal see p 17.
Mapula Sedutla, mapula@derebus.org.za
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2013 (Oct) DR 3.
