40% of female barristers surveyed by the Bar Standards Board say they have experienced harassment at the bar.
1,333 female barristers, which is around a quarter of all practising women, were surveyed for the BSB's Women At the Bar report which was released this week. And a remarkable two in every five of them claimed to have experienced harassment while at work.
Over half of the barristers said that the perpetrators were within their organisation. “The person harassing me was my head of chambers", said one, "who according to our chambers handbook was also the person [to whom] I should have reported the conduct”. More than 50% said the harassment occurred during pupillage, with one barrister citing "extreme sexual harassment" at the hands of her pupil supervisor. Clerks, barristers from other chambers, clients and even judges were identified as the perpetrators. One respondent said a male solicitor offered work to her in exchange for "favours”*.
An overwhelming 80% of those affected said they did not report the harassment. Depressingly, the most common reason given was the potential impact on careers: “I was too scared", said one, "if I complained and was labelled a trouble-maker". Over a quarter said that it wasn't worth reporting, explaining that the likelihood that the issue was an "occupational hazard". Suggesting that the Garrick culture still runs deep at certain chambers, an institutionalised female barrister said that harassment was "something that people have to endure from time to time".
Chairman of the Bar Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC said, “Some of the experiences documented by the BSB are historic, but there is no room for complacency. This profession, like others, continues to face challenges around harassment and discrimination". She said, "It is a positive sign, however, that women now feel able to come forward with their experiences, and I believe that we are moving in the right direction. Anyone approaching the Bar Council and its E&D Helpline will receive the help and support they need". That number: 020 7611 1320.
Doerries said the BSB intended to use the results of its survey to "develop recommendations before the year is out". As that doesn't seem a particularly ambitious response, RollOnFriday would like to step in and suggest that one of those recommendations should be that senior male barristers stop harassing their colleagues.
*It is not known whether the Waterloo sex QC or Charlotte Proudman took part in the study.
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1,333 female barristers, which is around a quarter of all practising women, were surveyed for the BSB's Women At the Bar report which was released this week. And a remarkable two in every five of them claimed to have experienced harassment while at work.
Over half of the barristers said that the perpetrators were within their organisation. “The person harassing me was my head of chambers", said one, "who according to our chambers handbook was also the person [to whom] I should have reported the conduct”. More than 50% said the harassment occurred during pupillage, with one barrister citing "extreme sexual harassment" at the hands of her pupil supervisor. Clerks, barristers from other chambers, clients and even judges were identified as the perpetrators. One respondent said a male solicitor offered work to her in exchange for "favours”*.
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A head of chambers yesterday |
An overwhelming 80% of those affected said they did not report the harassment. Depressingly, the most common reason given was the potential impact on careers: “I was too scared", said one, "if I complained and was labelled a trouble-maker". Over a quarter said that it wasn't worth reporting, explaining that the likelihood that the issue was an "occupational hazard". Suggesting that the Garrick culture still runs deep at certain chambers, an institutionalised female barrister said that harassment was "something that people have to endure from time to time".
Chairman of the Bar Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC said, “Some of the experiences documented by the BSB are historic, but there is no room for complacency. This profession, like others, continues to face challenges around harassment and discrimination". She said, "It is a positive sign, however, that women now feel able to come forward with their experiences, and I believe that we are moving in the right direction. Anyone approaching the Bar Council and its E&D Helpline will receive the help and support they need". That number: 020 7611 1320.
Doerries said the BSB intended to use the results of its survey to "develop recommendations before the year is out". As that doesn't seem a particularly ambitious response, RollOnFriday would like to step in and suggest that one of those recommendations should be that senior male barristers stop harassing their colleagues.
*It is not known whether the Waterloo sex QC or Charlotte Proudman took part in the study.
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The surprise isn't that sexual harassment occurs to some degree, as it must do in any industry, it's the percentages quoted in the article that make it more alarming. If those alarming figures are actually misleading given the skewed "sampling protocol", then that undermines the message.
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That seems unlikely, but let's run with it for a second. That would mean that 10% of all women at the Bar had been harassed. That seems fairly high in of itself.
Taking the first person's comment on the stats, ie. that the responders were self-selecting. Yes, unless you know of surveys where you are forced to respond, all are self-selecting. That said, of those who chose to answer, 60% said they had not had a problem. In other words, it wasn't only those who had been harassed that decided to respond, but some sort of cross-section.
In summary, the truth lies somewhere between 10% and 40%. There's probably a degree of higher response from those who have had issues, but the effect is probably not as high as the Bar would hope.
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Must it?
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