Reminiscing how the legal profession in Ghana has evolved points out the consolidated gains made these past decades. The obvious remark or conclusion after this retrospection is nothing more than the great strides that have been made in the legal profession in Ghana. John Mensah Sarbah, the first Ghanaian lawyer was called to the Bar in England at Lincoln’s Inn in the year 1887. Six decades down the lane saw the emergence of women in the legal profession in Ghana.
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| Essi Matilda Forster |
It is worth mentioning that, Essi Matilda Forster was the first woman from the then-British Gold Coast and the third woman in British West Africa to be called to the Bar in 1945 at Gray’s Inn in England. She was subsequently called to the Ghana Bar in 1947.
The legal profession has seen tremendous growth ever since the country produced its first nine home-grown lawyers who were called to the Ghana Bar in 1963. An interesting development about the origin of the legal profession in Ghana not only highlights the shift in paradigms these recent times but also the ongoing demographic shifts in the profession when considering the number of lawyers, the gender composition of the Bar, and the interplay of ethnicity, age, and class.
This blog addresses the gender bit of the demographic shift in the legal profession in Ghana. Decades ago, the legal profession was a gendered role and thus perceived as an occupation meant for men. Women who had the chance to be a part of this profession came from affluent homes known as the elites. Presently, there has been a drastic increase in the percentage of women desiring, venturing, and pursuing the legal profession.
Tomlinson et al., (2013) posit that over the years, more women are becoming lawyers on the global level representing about 30% of persons pursuing law as a profession. Scaling this gender transformation in the legal profession down to Ghana, the country has also experienced a reasonable percentage of women being called to the Bar regardless of their age, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. Furthermore, Ghana has witnessed an appreciable number of women called to the Bench having a fair representation at the Supreme Court of Justice. Despite these great strides made, there remain some hitches by way of gender-based professional biases faced by women.
How did law move from being a gendered profession to having a sizeable number of women pursuing it, passing all the comprehensive exams associated with it, and eventually attaining the ultimate goal: being called to the Bar?
References
Tomlinson, J., Muzio, D., Sommerlad, H., Webley, L., & Duff, L. (2013). Structure, agency and career strategies of white women and black and minority ethnic individuals in the legal profession. Human relations, 66(2), 245-269.
Abena,
ReplyDeleteThis was so interesting! I didn't know women were lawyers in the 40s. To me it seems to be something that would have been gendered until maybe the 80s? I wonder if in Ghana the first female lawyer happened before other countries such as the US or the UK. It seems like Ghana was breaking gender norms before the rest of the world. It still seems to be gendered in America. A lot of females receive negative attention for being lawyers. People don't see them as powerful. I have even seen online that a woman started her own firm where all the lawyers are female and wear pink in order to prove that they are just as good if not better in a court room than a man. Good post!
Wauren
Abena,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post, thank you. This is encouraging to hear, I would like to know what type of ripple effects this has had in the Ghanian society, I wonder if this increase in women lawyers has resulted in better realities for women all across Ghana. I fear that there is often much more to be done in the fight against the dominant patriarchal societies we find ourselves in, by that I mean I wonder if even though more women are lawyer's they are still ruling on the patriarchal and unequal systems and laws. That said, I don't mean to be so negative, I surely believe that this movement to increased women lawyers does indeed help bring justice to gendered legal issues.
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