Over 80% women lawyers say their careers are harder than those of male lawyers: SCBA survey

4 out of 5 women lawyers in India say that their professional journey has been harder than that of their male counterparts, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

Titled Documenting Voices of Women Legal Professionals in India, the study analysed responses from 2,604 women lawyers across 23 State Bar Councils, examining issues ranging from professional opportunity and workplace bias to harassment, infrastructure and family responsibilities.

The survey forms part of an effort to document the experiences of women in the profession more than a century after they were formally allowed to practice law under the Legal Practitioners (Women) Act, 1923.

The findings raise questions about whether the profession has evolved to accommodate the growing number of women entering it.

The survey found that 81.3% of respondents said that their professional journey had been harder than that of their male peers. Of these, 41.1% described it as “much more difficult” while 40.2% said it had been “slightly more difficult.”

The perception remained consistent across levels of seniority. Even among women with more than 15 years of practice, nearly 79% said their journey had been harder than that of men.

The report also found that 63.7% of respondents had felt discouraged by the profession at some point in their careers.

The survey found that gender bias continued to shape professional environments for many women lawyers. About 34.4% of respondents said that they had personally experienced or witnessed institutional practices that discouraged women lawyers, while another 23.5% said they had become aware of such practices through colleagues.

Bias was most often reported in areas such as fee negotiations (42.7%), expectations around work–life balance (39.5%) and client trust and briefing patterns (32.8%).

In addition, 53.9% of respondents said that designation as Senior Advocate was easier for men, reflecting a perception that access to professional recognition remained unequal.

The survey also recorded experiences of sexual harassment within professional settings.

About 16.1% of respondents said that they had faced sexual harassment, while another 12.7% chose not to disclose their experience. The report noted that such response patterns often masked additional cases due to fear of professional consequences.

Among those who reported the harassment or sought remedies, 57% said that they faced some form of backlash, including professional exclusion, loss of work opportunities or hostile work environments.

The report noted that these experiences contributed to a reluctance among women lawyers to report harassment.

The survey found gaps in professional infrastructure and resources. Nearly 75% of respondents said that they did not have access to paid legal databases, 77% lacked clerical or secretarial staff and 56% did not have stable internet access or digital devices required for professional work. About 21% reported having access to none of the listed professional resources.

Another finding was that 83.1% of respondents were first-generation lawyers, meaning that they did not have immediate family members in the legal profession and, therefore, lacked inherited professional networks or mentorship.

The survey also examined the impact of family responsibilities on women’s professional work. It found that 71.5% of respondents said their marital status had affected their professional work. Among those who sought accommodation for childcare responsibilities, 42.7% said that their requests had been denied.

More than 55% of respondents also reported difficulty in getting matters deferred following childbirth, pointing to limited institutional support for caregiving responsibilities.

A large number of respondents reported experiencing stress linked to their professional environment. The survey found that 84% had experienced work-related stress or burnout at least occasionally in the previous year. The rate rose to 94.4% among lawyers with less than five years of practice.

The report said that such levels of stress could contribute to early attrition among women litigators, particularly during the initial years of practice.

Despite the structural barriers identified in the survey, many respondents expressed interest in participating in institutional decision-making within the profession.

The report found that 77.5% of respondents planned to take up or were exploring leadership roles in bar councils and bar associations. At the same time, 64.7% said that women did not currently enjoy equal opportunities in securing such positions.

The survey also recorded support for measures aimed at improving gender representation in the higher judiciary. Around 80.5% of respondents supported some form of minimum reservation for women in appointments to the High Courts and the Supreme Court. Of these, 57.9% favoured a uniform minimum percentage across all High Courts, while 22.6% said the percentage could vary across states depending on the sex ratio. Only 13.5% opposed reservation in principle.

Respondents also supported a 30% reservation for women in leadership positions within bar councils and bar associations. The report said greater participation of women in such roles could influence policies relating to workplace safety, infrastructure, mentorship and professional opportunities for younger women practitioners.

The initiative for the study began in July 2025 following discussions within the SCBA on documenting the experiences of women advocates.

A pilot survey conducted among women lawyers in the Delhi-NCR region in December 2025 was later expanded into a nationwide exercise that gathered responses from women legal professionals across India.

Participants represented a wide geographical spread across North, South, East, West, Central and North-East India, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam.

The respondents included lawyers practicing at different levels of the judicial system. Of them, 52.9% practised in district courts, 28.8% in High Courts, 13% in the Supreme Court and 2.5% before tribunals.

[Read Report]