International Women’s Day |11 March 2021
‘Women need to be encouraged to strive for positions of influence’ – Magistrate Natasha Burian
The Judiciary of Seychelles examines the subject of ‘women delivering justice’. What do the professionals in this field have to say on women practicing law, and is there equity? They also share their observations, and message for all women on this important day.
Magistrate Natasha Burian
“We must continue to actively encourage young women to consider a career in the legal profession. An examination of the list of licensed attorneys will reflect that there is a poor representation of women at the Bar. However, the trend does appear to be changing with the majority of the newly qualified lawyers being female. In order to create more equity and remove any barriers that women may perceive to exist, I am of the opinion that an exercise must be undertaken to educate and remove the gender bias, unconscious or otherwise, within the Bar, Bench and the public in general. There should be no differentiation in treatment between male and female professionals and that the gender of the individual is irrelevant but what is of real importance is their ability and skill to perform the job at hand. Women need to be encouraged to strive for positions of influence and as Seychelles strives to eliminate gender bias, this should be reflected across all arms of government. There has been positive advancement in this regard within the Judiciary. However, currently, the male to female ratio on the Supreme Court Bench is 5:3, showing that there remains an imbalance of female representation. As well as improving the quality of our law by bringing a wider range of experience to judicial reasoning, a more diverse bench would improve the public perception of it and therefore we must continue to encourage women to pursue a career at the Bench.”
Magistrate Burian’s message to all women:
“I would like to encourage future generations of graduates, who aspire to become judges, not to let their aspirations become curtailed but to always remember that their insecurities are the only barrier to their professional development. Always be proud of who you are and what you have achieved.”
Contributed by the Judiciary of Seychelles