Over 80 % Women Lawyers Feel Their Professional Journey Harder Than Male Peers : SCBA Survey

The Supreme Court Bar Association's national survey of 2,604 women legal professionals has found that 81.3% believe their professional journey has been harder than that of male counterparts, with 41.1% describing it as “much harder”. The report states that 63.7% found the profession discouraging at some point.”

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant released the report on March 22 at the 1st SCBA conference held in Bengaluru.

Sexual harassment was disclosed by 16.1% of respondents, while 12.7% preferred not to respond. Of those who reported harassment, 57% reported facing backlash including work exclusion and subtle retaliation. 72.3% said gender hindered professional networking.

The CJI released the report on its national survey titled “Documenting Voices of Women Legal Professionals in India”. The survey responses highlighted persistent structural barriers in areas such as infrastructure, networking, leadership opportunities, and work-life balance despite rising participation of women at the Bar.

The report notes that women have formally been admitted to the Bar since the Legal Practitioners (Women) Act, 1923, but gender bias, inadequate mentorship, early-career financial precarity, poor infrastructure, and disproportionate domestic responsibilities continue to influence career trajectories.

To address the lack of large-scale empirical data on these issues, the SCBA conducted the national survey covering seven themes including demographics, infrastructure, bias, challenges, family responsibilities, leadership, and reform priorities.

In the survey, 23 State Bar Councils were represented. Early-career advocates with 0–5 years of practice formed the largest cohort at 37.4%, while those with over 15 years of experience constituted 30.7%. Most respondents practised in District Courts (52.9%), followed by High Courts (28.8%), the Supreme Court (13%), and tribunals (2.5%).

Around 45% had relocated for practice, with half of them doing so due to family or marriage. A majority, 58.2%, were sole practitioners and only 2.8% worked in medium or large law firms. Senior Advocates at the Supreme Court level constituted just 0.4% of respondents.

On professional advancement, 53.9% of respondents said senior designation was easier for men, while only 1.7% felt it was easier for women. About 64.5% had never held any designated government role and none had served as Attorney General, Solicitor General, or Additional Solicitor General at the Supreme Court level. While 59.4% supported mandatory minimum representation of women on legal services panels, 67.28% favoured a mandatory policy for women's representation as panel counsel or law officers. Over half, 55.5%, said government panel appointments were easier for men.

The survey also found that 83.1% of respondents were first-generation lawyers, indicating the absence of inherited professional networks. In terms of practice areas, women reported significant presence in civil law (71.3%), family law (65.4%), and criminal law (64.5%). More than half, 56.9%, said their specialisation had at some point limited professional access due to gender stereotyping.

On infrastructure and resources, only 19% had offices within walking distance of courts and 12% had no dedicated office at all. High rent (45.4%), financial unviability (37.5%), early-stage practice (24.2%), family responsibilities (20.3%), and safety concerns (8.2%) were cited as barriers. Around 75% lacked paid legal databases, 77% lacked clerical staff, 56% lacked stable internet or devices, and 21% reported having no professional resources at all. While 34.4% reported having personally experienced or witnessed institutional gender bias, 65.3% said technology and e-courts had a positive impact on their work.

In relation to challenges and well-being, 60% cited limited work opportunities as a major difficulty, followed by networking issues (42.8%), pay inequality (40.2%), and work-life imbalance (37.5%). About 37.7% reported unmet mentorship needs. 59.2% lacked confidence that grievance complaints would be handled fairly. 84% experienced burnout or work-related stress at least occasionally in the preceding 12 months, rising to 94.4% among early-career advocates. A total of 80.5% supported minimum reservation for women judges in the High Courts and Supreme Court.

On marriage and family responsibilities, 71.5% said marital status had impacted their professional work, with 44.7% reporting minor hardships and 26.8% major hardships. Work-life balance (30.1%) and financial instability (29.6%) were the most common difficulties. Among respondents who sought childcare accommodation, 42.7% were denied support. More than half, 55.2%, reported difficulty in getting matters deferred due to childbirth. About 30.3% said family responsibilities limited professional opportunities, while only 18.9% said having children positively supported their careers.

72.1% said career advice would not differ between a daughter and son while 27.9% say it would — reflecting perceived gender-based risk. On careers for daughters, 47.5% respondents perceived Judiciary as offering greater stability, respect, and protection versus the informal hierarchies of the Bar.

In leadership and institutional participation, 64.7% believed women did not have equal opportunity in Bar leadership. Barriers cited included lack of women's networks (65.5%), financial or time constraints (52.6%), family expectations (48.4%), and hostile election culture (38.1%). 76.4% said they were planning or considering a judicial career. In terms of future professional goals, while 37% aspired to law officer roles and 34.5% to the judiciary, only 8.5% expressed interest in Bar leadership. Nevertheless, 77.5% said they planned to or were exploring leadership roles in Bar Councils or associations.

On career satisfaction, 50.9% described themselves as satisfied or very satisfied, 35.3% remained neutral, and 13.8% reported dissatisfaction.

Based on thematic analysis of 2,535 responses, the report identified the following top reform priorities – equal access and opportunity, formal reservation and representation, structured mentorship, financial support in early practice, maternity protection and returnship programmes, safe work environments and POSH implementation, childcare infrastructure, Bar Council and institutional reforms, judicial examination reforms, and strengthening women's networking infrastructure.

The report notes certain limitations in the data. It notes that the survey is based on self-reported responses and issues such as sexual harassment or backlash may be underreported due to privacy concerns. It also notes that the geographic distribution of responses was uneven, with Delhi accounting for roughly one in four responses. Further, comparisons with male counterparts are based on perception since no male sample was included in the dataset.

The report was coauthored by Dr. Anindita Pujari, Senior Advocate & Advocate Shaileshwar Yadav.