The devastating situation in Afghanistan has underscored the risk of harm that Afghan women attorneys, judges, journalists, and women’s rights advocates have always faced.1 Despite those risks, these women worked from within to advance women’s rights in Afghanistan. And their advocacy worked: during the prior Taliban regime that fell 20 years ago, there were no women judges in Afghanistan.2 Today, there are approximately 270.
Over the past fifty years of Lawyers Club’s existence we have heard countless stories of women enduring inappropriate conduct, both in law firms and in other organizations. On a much lesser scale, I have personally witnessed and experienced misogynistic behavior (in the office and in court), women being excluded from social functions, and women being overlooked for advancement opportunities. In truth, misogyny still exists in many of the environments our members work in, and this is precisely why Lawyers Club continues its work. Lawyers Club vehemently opposes and works to combat any form of sexual harassment or discrimination in any venue or situation. We do this work while also recognizing that we are a specialty bar organization comprised of lawyers and judges, and that due process is paramount in our profession.
Even today, and despite the advances we have made since Lawyers Club’s founding in 1972, men hold the majority of leadership roles and positions of power. Many of our members still work within a culture of male dominance. Our job combating inequality would be far more difficult if the women working in those environments did so without our support.
Change comes from within. As I rose in my law firm, and with Lawyers Club’s support, I had the corresponding opportunity to influence decisions that ultimately help women—i.e., by ensuring that diverse candidates were considered in hiring decisions, by ensuring that the firm supported Lawyers Club’s mission, and by empowering women coming up behind me to negotiate for their salary and for complex, interesting, and competitive work.
While we continue to see allegations of harassment and discrimination in legal workplaces, we also see organizations that were once the subject of such allegations making meaningful change with the support of the women lawyers in their ranks. Women attorneys who feel empowered to speak up, who develop their leadership roles in their work and community, are also pushing our male-dominated environments to reassess and change their cultures to make the workplace a supportive, friendly environment for women. Lawyers Club strives to empower those women to make their voices count—and to change their workplace culture from within.
1https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55693972
2https://feminist.org/news/afghanistan-now-has-260-female-judges/
