Daily Times

Today Pakistani women are opting for more challenging and unconventional professions. Traditionally practicing law has been considered a male domain in the sociology of ‘thana-kachehri’ (police station-court) dominated by male litigants. It is pleasant to see that the culture is changing though at a very slow pace. One can find women practicing law and pleading on behalf of their clients even in small and socially conservative cities.

How many women are part of the bar or bench in contemporary Pakistan; there are no authentic gender segregated statistics available. The Annual Report of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (2017-18) reveals that the lawyer community at the top is comprised of 5,488 advocates at the Supreme Court. How many of these are women, it is not mentioned. Hope from next year onward such reports will provide gender-wise data. However there are no women in the galaxy of 17 Supreme Court judges.

The data about advocates of the High Courts is no different. The Supreme Court report says that there are 67,310 advocates in Punjab, 17,180 in Sindh, 7,466 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2,500 in Balochistan and 2,790 in the Federal Capital Islamabad who are enrolled with their respective Bar Councils. How many of them are women? The Bar Councils need to apply gender filter while producing their statistics. It will require a different mindset to acknowledge and count the increasing presence of women in legal profession. Some non-governmental organizations have produced gender segregated data but this mismatches with the total figures of advocates enumerated by the Supreme Court report. One must not ignore that it will be a difficult task as the male dominated Punjab Bar Council in its annual dairy reproduced some stereo-typical statements about women. As of today no women lawyer has made it to the Bar Councils. Maybe when that door will be opened the thinking patterns will be engendered.

Historically, Barrister Salma Sobhan-a Cambridge graduate started her practice in Karachi in 1959. Since then many have made their professional mark. To mention a few; Rabia Qari became the first women president of Lahore High Court Bar Association in 1964, after 40-year Fakharunnisa Khokhar won this post in 2005. Iconic Asma Jahangir became the first women to be elected as the President of Supreme Court Bar Association in 2010. Some illustrious women lawyers like Rashida Patel established dedicated platforms like Pakistan Women Lawyers Association. Many more organizations have emerged to facilitate and support women lawyers. Their work ranges from facilitating conducive working environment to making the courts more women friendly-both for advocates and litigants.

Historically, Barrister Salma Sobhan-a Cambridge graduate started her practice in Karachi in 1959. Since then many have made their professional mark. To mention a few; Rabia Qari became the first women president of Lahore High Court Bar Association in 1964, after 40-year Fakharunnisa Khokhar won this post in 2005

When we look at our judicial benches from the lens of representation of the gender, it is encouraging to see some women breaking the glass ceiling yet there remains a huge gap that is to be filled. Many women have joined the lower judiciary through competitive examinations and are busy creating history of dispensing justice at this important level. As far as the higher judiciary is concerned it was during the government of Benazir Bhutto that the first batch of five female judges was appointed in three High Courts in 1994. They included; Justice Majida Rizvi in the Sindh High Court, Justice Khalida Rashid in the Peshawar High Court, Justice Nasira Iqbal, Justice Tallat Yaqoob and Justice Fakhraunnisa Kohkhar in the Lahore High Court. Despite this historic opportunity none of these either became chief justices of High Courts or were elevated to become the first woman judge at the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

It took about 11-year to appoint more women as judges in higher judiciary. In 2005 Justice Yasmeen Abbasi joined the bench in Sindh High Court and later became the first woman federal law secretary in 2012. Justice Qaiser Iqbal joined Sindh High Court in 2005, Justice Irshad Qaiser joined Peshawar High Court in 2012 and now she holds the honour of being first permanent women member of the Election Commission of Pakistan from Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. Justice Ashraf Jehan joined Sindh High Court in 2013 and later served as the first woman judge in the Federal Shariat Court. Justice Iram Sijjad Gill served Lahore High Court during 2016-17.

Today, the picture is slightly more beautiful as we have Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar as the first woman Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court since September 2018. She had been a part of the bench for nearly nine years. Similarly these days Justice Ayesha Malik is serving judge in the Lahore High Court since 2012and Justice Alia Neelam was appointed to the Lahore High Court just a year later in 2013. In March 2013, Justice Musarrat Hilali was appointed in the Peshawar High Court. Justice Kausaar Sultana Hussain is part of the Sindh High Court since February 2018.

Though these fifteen women have created history and fought against barriers besides attempting to lower them for future aspirants, the gender ratio between male and female judges still remains highly uneven. In the Peshawar High Court there is one female judge out of fifteen, One out of thirty six in the Sindh High Court, one out of eleven in Baluchistan and only two females out of forty six in the Lahore High Court. Respecting the fact that there is no gender or regional quota for appointments in superior judiciary, these statistics indicate that it will take long time to have many more women judges in Pakistan.

In 21st century Pakistan has enacted many pro-women laws, ranging from criminalizing domestic violence, checking honour killings, to penalize harassment at work place etc. These laws provide an additional window of opportunity to young women lawyers to specialize in these fields as their female clients may feel more comfortable to communicate with them. This idea is in no way to restrict them to explore the entire legal territory and professional excel in each and every aspect of justice sector. Similarly women judges may be given preference to adjudicate matters pertaining to family disputes etc.

The writer is freelance columnist