International Legal Foundation

Women in the legal system

Gender program for women lawyers: Afghan women perform extremely well in university, often crowding the top of the classes. In the professional world, however, they have taken a back seat. ILF-Afghanistan believes that only by working with men -- with the support necessary to feel their equality -- can women achieve in the workplace as they do in university. Only by working with qualified female colleagues will men start accepting women in leadership positions. ILF-A is succeeding in this regard. In 2003, the ILF interviewed only one woman lawyer willing to represent anyone accused of adultery. It has taken four years for the office and its work to become sufficiently understood and respected to attract a number of highly qualified women lawyers and judges. In February and August 2006, ILF-A hired two more women lawyers and one paralegal. In November 2006, ILF-Afghanistan hired another woman attorney who was trained in Kabul and deployed to Herat. Women attorneys and paralegals share offices with their male colleagues, make presentations to their male colleagues, and even question them in public discussions about how cases are approached. The environment is one where women can, and do, perform.

Women in the legal education Pilot Project: ILF-A/Herat also established a student internship with the Shariat and Law Faculties of Herat University in January 2007. Then, the students of both faculties had classes segregated by gender. The internship at ILF-A/Herat, however, is integrated. The students meet in large groups and are assigned to integrated groups. All women participants to express their opinions, to which their male colleagues listen with respect. ILF-A/Herat’s mixed gender classes are a new development in legal education in Herat, and it introduces students to what they can expect in the workplace: gender integration.