250 women enter law profession a yr

Over 250 women on an average are coming into the law profession in Bangladesh each year mainly getting attractions to handsome earnings and scope for providing legal support to the oppressed people in the society.
Leading women lawyers told The Daily Star that challenging and independent characteristics, scope to work for people legally and socially as well as good earnings in law profession are attracting women to this field.
Sources at the Bangladesh Bar Council, the highest body to give licences to the lawyers for practising law in courts, said over 250 women on an average are coming into the profession each year.
According to the sources, there are over 41,000 lawyers in Bangladesh. Of them, around 5,000 are female practising in different courts, including the Appellate Division and the High Court Division of the Supreme Court.
More than 400 women lawyers are practicing in the High Court and the Appellate Division but far less in the apex court, said sources at the Supreme Court Bar Association.
Rabia Bhuiyan, senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, told The Daily Star that she is honoured to be a lawyer. She is satisfied over her profession and pleased to come to the aid of the poor, helpless and oppressed people.
She said her father inspired her to become a lawyer when she was a student at school, explaining her pleasures and satisfactions over the law profession.
“Now I can talk to poor and illiterate people with an open mind. I can directly help them solve their problems by placing arguments in the courts and give them advice,” Rabia said.
Litigant people always look for a competent lawyer to deal with their legal problems. So there is a good scope to earn a handsome amount in this profession, she added.
Fawzia Karim Feroze, president of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) representing about 900 female lawyers, said she enjoys the challenging nature of this interesting and pleasant profession.
Most of the women lawyers are now working for the interest of the people particularly for the helpless and oppressed women and children, she said.
Advocate Fawzia said women who are working hard and have taken this profession as a challenge are doing well. She, however, said dealing with clients is a very challenging job for women lawyers.
Former deputy attorney general Nahid Mahtab said, “Women lawyers find a charm in law profession since they can directly contribute to their family as well as the society by earning money.”
Women are now conscious of the challenges and profits of the legal business and so, they choose to study law discipline.
When lawyers help establish human rights with the rule of law, it creates a direct impact on the society, she added.
Nahid Mahtab said women are becoming aware of their constitutional rights day by day.
“I chose law profession out of curiosity on the constitutional rights of women. My mother used to inspire me into knowing those rights when I was a student," she added.