This is the final part of the three-part series on ‘under-representation of women lawyers at the trial court level‘ as a part of the Justicemakers’ Writer’s Training Program, run in partnership with Agami and Ashoka’s Law For All Initiative. The first and second parts can be found here and here.
Sometime in February at the Delhi High Court, Justice Rekha Palli was constantly referred to as ‘Sir’ by an advocate.
Justice Palli objected to the lawyer calling her ‘Sir’ and remarked, “I am not Sir. I hope you can make that out.”
The lawyer’s response to this perfectly explains how changing times do not bring change in discriminatory attitudes. He said, “Sorry. It is because of the chair you are sitting in.” Naturally offended by such a comment, Justice Palli reacted by saying, “Then that’s even worse if after all this time you think that the Chair is for Sirs. If the younger members don’t stop differentiating, then what hope do we have for the future?”
This article does not focus on why gender sensitization is important – the answer to that question is amply clear.
Rather, this article looks at training modules as a specific tool for imbuing such sensitivity.
Any module on gender sensitization must not only aim at providing a conceptual understanding of gender and patriarchy but also how such awareness can be incorporated in all walks of life including everyday interactions in the public space.
Examining Sensitisation Manuals And Modules Designed So Far
Let’s look at the ‘Gender Sensitization Manual’ published by the Women’s Development Cell at the University of Mumbai. The Manual is divided into two segments – the first segment provides background on sexual harassment in colleges by discussing issues such as different curfew timings for women, as well as a prohibition on women wearing certain ‘objectionable clothing’ to colleges; the second segment envisages four short sessions to promote gender sensitization and promote relationships.
While the manual indicates a step in the right direction, sessions of 45 minutes aren’t enough to transform stereotypes cultivated over centuries.
Another training manual published by Jagori Women’s Resource Centre is more specifically designed, and highlights different activities that participants may engage in while being informed and sensitized.
For instance, participants may be divided into different groups and asked to discuss different commonly heard statements such as ‘biology makes women weaker than men’ and ‘women who dress or behave in culturally inappropriate ways are inviting assault’. This was proposed to be followed by a non-judgmental session on practical and strategic gender needs, and how discriminatory statements constitute a form of systemic gendered violence.
India Needs Gender Sensitisation
And here’s why it needs it. Yet another training resource pack on ‘Gender Awareness and Sensitivity Applications’ curated by Unnati – Organisation for Development Education goes a step further and provides for an intersectional approach towards promoting a gender-just and equitable environment. It looks not only at issues of caste and disability but also at challenges faced by single women.
The resource pack comprehensively links these discussions to the history of the women’s movement in India and the challenges faced thereunder. It further provides for a post-workshop evaluation to assess the changes in the participants’ attitudes. How such modules can cater to a pool of litigators is what we examine in the next section.
What UN And EU Can Teach Us About Gender Sensitisation
Let’s face it, most of us want nothing to do with lawyers. They seem ‘spiritually bankrupt’, boastful about their knowledge of laws and regulations, and overworked due to the tortuous working hours they put in around the week. This, in turn, makes it difficult to penetrate their psyche regarding the differential treatment of their fellow women colleagues, and how sensitization can help change the same.
In fact, most lawyers I contacted regarding gender sensitization at their workplaces responded by saying “How do you expect us to spend time on this, with such a humongous amount of work?”
A twin focus is essential to address this conundrum, both in terms of how the sensitization module is curated, and how such training is administered.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued an important publication titled ‘Gender Stereotyping and the Judiciary: A Workshop Guide’ in 2020. To better resonate with members of the profession, the Guide focuses on presentations of different judgments and discussions surrounding international rights instruments.
Similarly, the ‘Training Manual for Judges and Prosecutors on Ensuring Women’s Access to Justice’ published by the European Union in collaboration with the Council of Europe makes persistent references to case laws in order to highlight assumptions regarding gender roles within the legal system.
Taking a cue from these initiatives, I believe that the following components can fit well into a gender sensitization manual for litigators:
What Can A Gender Sensitization Manual For Litigators Look Like?
A Judicial Backdrop
Litigators need to be made aware of judgments that reek of misogynist notions and benevolent sexism. For instance, Justice Krishna Dixit of the Karnataka High Court remarked that it was “unbecoming of an Indian woman” to sleep after being “ravished”.
In Mahmood Farooqui v. NCT of Delhi (2017), the High Court of Delhi stated, “A day after the occurrence, the prosecutrix cannot be said to be under any fear of reprisal or reaction and her not approaching the issue with the appellant is rather surprising.”
The very obvious problems with such judicial attitudes must be discussed with participants to highlight how their conscious or subconscious behaviour towards their women colleagues, or ‘gender blindness’, may normalize such discrimination.
A powerful discussion will also create certain discomfort among participants.
Case Studies
The discussion can be followed by posing different scenarios before participants and trying to understand their responses.
For instance, male litigators can be asked about the distribution of responsibilities at their workplace – Is non-legal office housework such as planning meetings generally allotted to their women colleagues? Or, are their women colleagues often subject to comments on their appearances?
Lara Bazelon, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law once wrote about how a judge asked if she was “stripping in the court” when she took off her suit jacket during a sweltering day. Kiruba Munuswamy, lawyer and founder of Legal Initiative for Equality also wrote about how a judge in the Madras High Court commented, “Your hairstyle is more attractive than your argument”, and how she was fired for taking a day off on the first day of her period.
These practical illustrations will certainly make participants question several aspects of their day-to-day actions at the workplace, thereby setting the stage for infusing better understanding on concepts of gender and patriarchy.
Conceptual Understanding
At this stage, participants can be educated and informed about important definitional concepts such as “patriarchy”, “gender roles/stereotypes”, “gender-based violence” and “power and identity”. Such learning and unlearning can be better enabled by collaborations of Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committees with bodies like UN Women, the National Commission for Women, and other grassroots organizations working on women’s rights issues.
Sensitization is most effective when imbibed as part of an organization’s structure and work culture.
Given their status as enforcers of rights in a democracy, it is imperative for the legal system to discharge its responsibility by seriously inculcating gender sensitization in the work practices and general attitudes of its members.
Private firms, litigation chambers, the state Bar Councils must seriously endeavour to ensure that women lawyers and litigators are treated as equals in a substantive and truly inclusive sense.