Only 5.5% of higher court judges are women, pay inequality sets further female lawyers back in polls
Advocate Saadia Noreen jumped into the fray for the upcoming Islamabad Bar Council (IBC) elections for the first time after fulfilling the eligibility criteria.
While some senior lawyers supported her and recognized her experience and credibility, she faced backlash from many others. Opponents questioned her experience, noting that no other women ran for these major votes, nor was there a need for her in the male-dominated campaign.
Noreen says many of her candidates hosted large campaign dinners and gatherings, despite it being against Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) rules. This open violation made it more difficult for her to maintain strong momentum during her campaign. Not only was such extravagance against the rules, she also could not afford to organize such events due to severe financial constraints.
“Female lawyers earn 10 to 30 percent less than men for the same work. Pay inequality remains widespread and needs to be addressed. More female mentors and leaders are needed, as equality helps make workplaces and male-dominated professions safer and healthier,” explained Noreen.
Despite fulfilling all campaign requirements, she received little support from her community and eventually decided to withdraw from the election.
Reduced to a minority
The upcoming elections for the Bar Council of Pakistan took place earlier this month.
Members of the legal community are elected for a five-year term to the Provincial and Islamabad Bar Councils of Pakistan to ensure fair and efficient justice and protect the rights and interests of practicing lawyers. However, the process is still marked by gender inequality.
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A report by the Women in Law Initiative Pakistan, Status of women’s representation as candidates in bar elections 2025-30reveals that out of a total of 638 candidates for all Bar Councils, 614 (96%) are men and only 24 (4%) are women. Across the Bar Council of Pakistan, there are a total of 148 seats.
This time, 313 men and 13 women participated in the Punjab Bar Council, with women constituting only 4% of the candidates. The Bar Council of Sindh shows a similar pattern with 135 males and six females (4%). Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council has 106 men and four women (also 4%), while Balochistan Bar Council includes 39 men and only one woman (2%).
Islamabad Bar Council elections are completely devoid of female representation with 21 male candidates and no female candidates.
Bar councils lack reserved seats or affirmative action to ensure fair representation of women, and the aforementioned report suggests that the percentage of women ultimately elected is expected to be even lower.
“We have seen a pattern emerge that before every election cycle the eligibility requirements in Section 5A of Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act keep changing in a way that disproportionately affects women and young lawyers,” says Nida Usman, lawyer and founder of Women in Law Initiative Pakistan.
Section 5A of the Advocates and Bar Councils Act defines the criteria for candidates to qualify for election to a Provincial Bar Council and the Islamabad Bar Council, which over the years has become exclusionary for female candidates and early career lawyers who already face systematic obstacles in the process.
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Prior to 2018, candidates were only required to be on the list of advocates and have 10 years of practice as officially registered advocates. In 2018, the rules were tightened, with candidates having to be on the list for at least five years and have 15 years of practice. This change excluded some women from the 2020 election.
Female lawyers claim that they often get fewer clients because people generally trust male lawyers more. Therefore, they struggle financially and earn less than their male counterparts for the same work. This adds to the many obstacles they face during bar association campaigns, which require significant financial resources.
In 2025, candidate eligibility became more stringent, with candidates having to be on the list for at least 10 years and have 15 years of practice. They must also have handled at least 30 settled cases and been a voting member of their district bar association for at least five years.
“Since there are basic realities in legal practice in Pakistan, where female lawyers and young lawyers are not given equal opportunities to argue cases, and that it is also able to show that the 30 settled in which they independently handled the case is an example of a technical barrier that disproportionately affects the eligibility of a woman and a young lawyer to stand as a candidate,” explains the candidate.
“Inequalities continue to be reproduced as the goals of eligibility continue to shift in favor of older established lawyers who generally end up being male,” she adds.
Noreen weighs in and says that women are not taken seriously in institutional settings. “Discrimination exists even in the courts, where young female lawyers are subjected to harassment,” she says, adding that there is no favorable environment for women.
“Inside offices, the situation might be better, but in trials, inside the courtroom, it is much more difficult,” she maintains.
Why does the inclusion of women matter?
The lack of decent representation of women at the bar leads to their exclusion from spaces where major legislative and policy decisions are made.
Two years ago, the Lawyers Welfare and Protection Act of 2023 was passed to ensure the welfare and legal protection of lawyers. It includes rules and regulations to protect lawyers from violence, intimidation and harassment while on duty in court. The law also includes a chapter on welfare funds for lawyers, to provide security, access to psychiatric services, set penalties for acts of violence against lawyers and ensure access to medical treatment in state hospitals.
However, Usman stresses that this law does not address the day-to-day challenges women lawyers face and their specific welfare needs.
“This law does not refer to the provision of day care or parental leave as part of what ‘welfare’ should mean. It defines welfare in very economic terms, in terms of becoming legal advisers to companies, etc.,” she stresses.
Likewise, laws against workplace harassment are poorly enforced within law firms and courts. Issues such as separate entry and exit gates for women on the day of voting in bar elections and inadequate or unclean toilets for women make legal practice very challenging.
“These issues cause teachers and parents to discourage their female students and daughters from pursuing legal careers. This lack of representation will continue to limit women’s presence in the judiciary and as prosecutors, preventing them from enriching the justice system and improving access to the courts,” says Nida.
“It’s not just about women in the bar; it’s about democracy and justice for all.”
‘Historical’ firsts bring little change
The past few years have seen the historic appointments of Justices Ayesha Malik and Musarrat Hilali to the Supreme Court, yet the number of women in the Bar Council remained largely unchanged.
A 2024 Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) report highlights that out of 3,142 judges and judicial officers, only 572 are women (18%). The higher judiciary, which includes the Supreme Court, Federal Sharia Court and five High Courts, has only seven out of 126 judges as women (5.5%). At the district level, women hold 19 percent of the positions, while among 230,879 registered lawyers only about 40,000 (17%) are women. In the prosecution, women make up only 15 percent of the officers.
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Between 2020 and 2025, only two percent of Bar Council members were women, according to Women in Law. In 2021, only four women represented members out of 205 bar councils across all provinces.
An example of how procedural loopholes often trump fair competition is Rushda Lodhi. In 2020, the lawyer entered the Punjab Bar Council not through election but after the disqualification of her male counterpart, underscoring how women’s inclusion in major institutions often depends on such circumstances rather than equal opportunities.
During her tenure, Lodhi and her ally Ahmad Qayyum proposed the creation of a woman vice-president seat in all bar associations. While the proposal was initially approved, strong backlash from male advocates forced its withdrawal.
Then, in 2023, Sabahat Rizvi and Rabbiya Bajwa made history as the first women elected Secretary and Vice President of Lahore High Court Bar Association in 76 years of Pakistan’s history.
But now again, in 2025, the fight for wives-in-law remains as difficult as it has always been.
Saadia Noreen believes that with women voters making up a significant number, around 2,400 women voters in the IBC alone, women’s representation during and after the campaign must be ensured.
“Women lack proper representation, space and a supportive environment. Urgent calls for reform are needed to ensure women’s voices are included in decision-making,” she adds.
The author is a journalist with a focus on conflicts, legal matters and human rights.
