Survey launched for legal professionals to speak up about sexual harassment
Saturday, 28 April 2018
An anonymous survey has been launched for people to report sexual harassment in the legal profession.
It follows a wave of allegations about sexual misconduct in the industry, which kicked off in February when students in a summer law clerk programme reported inappropriate sexual behaviour from Russell McVeagh employees.
A senior Auckland University of Technology law lecturer later came forward to allege Russell McVeagh staff had sex with law students in a boardroom.
Otago University then cancelled its annual law camp over concerns about jelly wrestling and nude drinking games, and explicit photos from the Auckland University law camp were taken down after complaints.
**READ MORE:
* Students in law clerk programme report inappropriate sexual behaviour
* When a young lawyer tried speaking out - three times
* Chapman Tripp lawyer alleged to have had sex with student on law camp
* Two calls on day one for Law Society harassment hotline**
The survey, launched by the Wellington Women Lawyers Association, was designed to reach interns, former lawyers, legal executive and support staff from law firms and other legal workplaces.
Association convenor Steph Dyhrberg said other legal employees experience sexual harassment, not just lawyers.
'We want to empower all people who work in the legal profession to speak up.
'It is the conduct of lawyers and the legal culture we need to focus on. We want to create a sea change in the profession, which is long overdue.'
A previous survey conducted by the Criminal Bar Association of NZ found almost 90 percent of the 300 participants had either witnessed or experienced some form of workplace harassment or bullying, with 28 percent reporting unwanted sexual advances.
A report conducted into the Auckland University law school also found female law students had been ranked by their 'sexiness' on social media and faced habitual 'slut-shaming'.
The New Zealand Law Society has also launched a survey, which was sent to more than 13,000 practising lawyers on April 6.
Dyhrberg said the Wellington Women Lawyers Association survey was designed to reach a wider audience, including lawyers on parental leave, those who have left legal practice, and lawyers who work in roles where they don't require a practising certificate.
'Law firm partners and managers are not aware of the scale of the problem in their own workplaces. We want to help employers learn more about what their staff experience.'
The survey will close on June 30.