Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah noted that being a lawyer is “not an easy profession for a female.” She spoke recently at an event for lawyers on International Women’s Day.
About 30% of Hong Kong’s 1,400 barristers and 11% of its 100 senior counsel are women, according to Hong Kong’s Bar List. Cheng noted that 60% of junior lawyers are women, while 50% to 60% of lawyers in the Department of Justice are women.
Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes noted that barristers should never have to encounter discrimination due to their gender and that his organization would not “sleep on” the problem. Dykes’ group recently launched a committee to deal with gender equality and diversity.