Female lawyers in Otago have condemned the "shameful'' rate of sexual harassment and bullying in the legal profession following a national Law Society survey.
Otago Women Lawyers' Society (OWLS) put out a statement today saying they were greatly concerned by the results of the Law Society's Workplace Environment Survey, completed by 3516 lawyers.
"These are serious matters which need to be acknowledged within the profession and addressed in the most proactive way possible,'' OWLS said.
The survey revealed nearly one-third of female lawyers had been sexually harassed during their working life, and 17 percent had experienced harassment in the last five years.
Male lawyers also reported they were sexually harassed, at a rate of 5 percent compared with 31 percent of women.
Two-thirds of all the lawyers who said they had been sexually harassed described experiencing some form of unwanted physical contact, and 10 percent recalled five or more incidents of sexual harrassment.
However, only 12 percent of lawyers who were sexually harassed formally reported it or made a complaint.
Fifty-two percent of lawyers who responded had been bullied at some time in their working life, and 61 percent of lawyers who had been bullied said the experience affected their emotional or mental wellbeing.
OWLS said it "condemned the behaviour in the strongest possible terms'' and would be monitoring closely strategies in place to deal with the problem.
"OWLS is committed to ensuring the safety and equitable professional advancement of all women at all stages of the legal profession.''
New Zealand Law Society president Kathryn Beck said in an open letter to New Zealand's lawyers - released to the media today - that the results of the survey were "nothing short of disgraceful".
"Many of you will be reading this and saying, ‘that’s not me’. That will be true on one level but on another level every single one of us is accountable for the behaviour we observe, tolerate or walk past.
"It’s clear that we’ve all been walking past far too much. Every one of us is accountable to our friends, our families, our clients and our colleagues for demanding nothing less than complete integrity in our behaviour and actions," Ms Beck said.
"We all need to more consistently and clearly demand this of each other and ourselves. Every one of us is accountable for the standing of our profession in our communities."
