How women lawyers navigate structural and cultural constraints in developing countries

By: Raquel Korff

America the free, America the brave. Our country claims to be a land of opportunity, a land where you can do anything. A land of justice, a place where law is the cornerstone of society, and where lawyers are the valiant protectors of all that is just. Yet, these ideals–justice, freedom, equality–are not guaranteed. They never were. For millions of women around the world, they remain out of reach entirely.

Picture this: you don't live in America. Nigeria is your home. Being a woman defines every obstacle ahead of you. Your country, although backed by a constitution that is supposed to guarantee gender equality, often allows customary laws to override statutory rights. While you want to practice law in your country, you face countless systemic barriers. You are harassed, discriminated against, and seen as less than. Here, even as a lawyer, the ability to fight for those in distress and speak out against inequality is a privilege. You have fought for your education, you have fought to be called a valiant protector. So what do you do?

In developing countries, women who choose law do not have the luxury of simply practicing it. They must fight for the right to practice at all–navigating cultural expectations, institutional discrimination, and economic barriers that their male counterparts rarely face. Seen as the primary caregivers, women in countries like India, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Nepal are subject to traditional ideals and a deeply embedded patriarchy. (Maunganidze & Bonnin, 2021).

India

Women today constitute only about 15 percent of India's lawyers, and barely 2 percent hold leadership positions in Bar Councils (Business Standard, 2026). Additionally, a World Bank study found that India has the smallest share of women on the bench among 122 countries that have at least one female justice in a higher judiciary (Indian Law Watch, 2023). A key driver of this attrition is economic. The average income for a lawyer's first two years in a High Court is between 5,000–20,000 rupees, which is insufficient to cover rent in most cities (Indian Law Watch, 2023). For those who do break through, the path is fragile. Marriage often requires relocation, and the expectation to bear children can force an abrupt end to a career dependent on local court relationships and regional reputation (Indian Law Watch, 2023).

Nigeria

While female students in Nigeria represent half the law student population at many schools across the country, only 4 percent of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) are women (Dike, 2023). This gap between entry and leadership is not coincidental; it is the product of cultural and structural forces that undermine a woman's ability to practice law free of discrimination and barriers. Specifically, women practicing law in Nigeria are marginalized through sexual harassment and pay gaps. According to one study, over 70 percent of Nigerian women respondents pointed to sexual harassment and unequal pay as factors directly affecting their professional advancement (Dawuni, 2024). Additionally, a study conducted across Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania found that women earn about 40–46 percent less than men in urban areas, and that the gender pay gap in Nigerian rural areas is approximately 77 percent (HumAngle, 2023).

Nepal

Nepali women are still treated unequally compared to their male counterparts, and are offered far less opportunity. Only 8.3 percent of Nepali women in the labor force are paid, and they disproportionately do low-skill work (The Diplomat, 2020). Yet, this is not a fault of their own. In Nepal, elements of a deep-rooted patriarchy are loud and apparent. Citizenship must be claimed through the father, rather than the mother. From the time a young woman is born in Nepal, the system is against her. According to the Nepal Bar Association, of 18,160 lawyers in Nepal, only 2,200 — or 12 percent — are women, and of those, only 174 are senior advocates (The Diplomat, 2020). Nepal's representation of women as judges stands at just 3.8 percent (UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, 2023). Those who do remain in the profession must work harder than their male peers just to be taken seriously.

Zimbabwe

Despite all of the discrimination they have faced, female lawyers in Zimbabwe have been able to make inroads through hard work and dedication. By 2012, women constituted 42.5 percent of magistrates in Zimbabwe, reflecting significant progress toward gender parity at the judicial level (Maunganidze & Bonnin, 2021). Yet, the fight against inequality did not end there. In Zimbabwe, 39.4 percent of women are subject to gender-motivated violence, and 11.6 percent face sexual violence (Law Gratis, 2024). The very things these women litigate against are normalized in their country, making it all the more urgent for those on the outside to examine the deeper systemic issues at hand. Lawyers are supposed to be the protectors of people within the judicial system, not the victims of it.

Strategies for Freedom

Women advocating for reform in their structural work environments often do one of several things. Some women will challenge bias and speak out, rather than assimilate and accept a lower role, or  serve as mentors to other women who have a passion for practicing law. Others may take a more direct approach through cause-lawyering–a form of legal practice in which lawyers use litigation and advocacy as tools to advance political, social, or moral change (Maunganidze & Bonnin, 2021). These are not passive adjustments, but rather deliberate acts of resistance. Whether through mentorship, litigation, or collective organizing, women lawyers in developing countries are actively dismantling the structures that were designed to exclude them. 

Strategies in Practice

Looking more specifically into how women in developing countries have put these strategies into practice, it is important to understand the power of collective and transformative approaches. Referring back to cause-lawyering, many women lawyers — specifically in Thailand, India, sub-Saharan Africa, and other transitional societies — often align with social movements, NGOs, and progressive officials to push for legal reform (Dawuni, 2024). Additionally, women have worked to create networks where those interested in practicing law have a place to turn for help with entry and advancement, specifically through women's bar groups, women-focused events, and family legal networks (African Women in Law, 2023). Perhaps more consequentially, women have turned their attention to the system itself by pushing for data-driven reforms and equality frameworks in countries like Japan, India, Nepal, and across Africa (International Bar Association, 2024). These efforts are not fruitless. Over 50 percent of Rwanda's judges are women as of 2025 — a direct result of the country's constitutionally mandated 30 percent gender quota introduced in 2003 (The New Times, 2025). Crucially, those who reached positions of power became architects of change, helping revise Rwanda's Civil Code to guarantee equal inheritance and succession rights between men and women (Pathfinders, 2023).

Onward

Meaningful change has been made, but it has been hard-won, incremental, and unevenly distributed. The statistics in this piece are not abstractions. They are the lived realities of women who chose the law because they believe in justice, only to find that justice was never designed with them in mind. The barriers holding women back are structural:limited access to legal education in developing regions, workplace cultures that normalize harassment, and professional networks that are exclusionary. Progress cannot be passive. It demands enforceable protections against harassment, investment in women’s legal education, and transparent gender mandates in judicial appointments. Rwanda did not reach majority-female judicial representation by luck–it got there by forcing the system to change. The work towards global gender equity is not finished; a seat at the table means nothing if the room was never built for you.

References 

African Women in Law. (2023). Women in law in Nigeria: Breaking barriers and shaping the future. Institute for African Women in Law. https://www.africanwomeninlaw.com/post/women-in-law-in-nigeria-breaking-barriers-and-shaping-the-future

Business Standard. (2026, April 1). Indian legal system's gender gap begins at the bar and reaches the bench. Business Standard. https://www.business-standard.com/opinion/editorial/indian-legal-system-s-gender-gap-begins-at-the-bar-and-reaches-the-bench-126040101502_1.html

Dawuni, J. J. (2024). African women lawyers: Numbers are up but report sheds light on obstacles to leadership in the profession. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/african-women-lawyers-numbers-are-up-but-report-sheds-light-on-obstacles-to-leadership-in-the-profession-208131

Dike, B. (2023). Report reveals female lawyers underrepresented in Nigeria. African Law & Business. https://www.africanlawbusiness.com/news/18782-report-reveals-female-lawyers-underrepresented-in-nigeria/

HumAngle. (2023, October 15). The working realities of Nigeria's female lawyers. HumAngle. https://humanglemedia.com/the-working-realities-of-nigerias-female-lawyers/

Indian Law Watch. (2023). Abysmal gender ratio in the legal profession: Concern raised by CJI. Indian Law Watch. https://indianlawwatch.com/abysmal-gender-ratio-in-the-legal-profession-concern-raised-by-cji/

International Bar Association. (2024). 50:50 by 2030: Progress report — A longitudinal study into gender disparity in law. IBA Legal Policy & Research Unit. https://www.ibanet.org/document?id=IBA-Gender-Progress-Report-2024

Law Gratis. (2024). Woman laws at Zimbabwe. https://www.lawgratis.com/blog-detail/woman-laws-at-zimbabwe

Maunganidze, F., & Bonnin, D. (2021). An uneven playing field: Experiences of female legal practitioners in Zimbabwe. Gender, Work and Organization, 28(1), 155–174. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12535

Pathfinders. (2023). Rwanda's 30 percent gender quota led to the world's largest share of women in government. SDG16+. https://www.sdg16.plus/policies/rwandas-30-percent-gender-quota-led-to-the-worlds-largest-share-of-women-in-government/

The Diplomat. (2020, January 18). Why does Nepal still have so few women lawyers? The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2020/01/why-does-nepal-still-have-so-few-women-lawyers/

The New Times. (2025, March 10). Over 50% Rwandan judges are women – official. The New Times. https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/24724/news/women/over-50-rwandan-judges-are-women-official

UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. (2023). Gender in the judiciary and the legal profession. United Nations. https://independence-judges-lawyers.org/gender-in-the-judiciary-and-the-legal-profession/