Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A true leader's story [on Gender Equality and Women's Rights]

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A true leader's story

[on Gender Equality and Women's Rights]

By: Joana Capaz Coelho

The documentary series "Live to Lead", available on the streaming platform Netflix, and inspired by Nelsen Mandela's motto: "What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived, but the difference we have made in the lives of others", is composed of 7 interviews with major world leaders.

In this post, we will concentrate on the first interview of this documentary series that focuses on the Story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (henceforth Ginsburg) (1993 - 2020) who was an American jurist, lawyer, and judge whose career became known for her constant fight for Gender Equality and Women's Rights.

Ginsburg, as portrayed in that interview, at the beginning of her career had to face several challenges in a 1959 America where women had difficulties accessing multiple professions: Advocacy being one of them.

In this sense, Ginsburg, after having graduated in Law and trying to enter the labor market, could not find a job. The reasons she mentioned were, in particular, the following: being Jewish, a woman, and a mother (this barrier was the one that "eliminated" her for good, since, as Ginsburg points out, "the rare firms that would risk having a woman, would not risk hiring a mother").

Despite all these early difficulties, Ginsburg built an extraordinary career and was one of the biggest voices for Women's Rights in the 1970s (during that decade she was, for example, a volunteer for the American Civil Liberties Union).

In 1980, the President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter, appointed her to serve as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Later, in 1993, the then President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, appointed her to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States (she was, in fact, the second woman to hold that judicial position in the history of the United States of America).

From the United States of America to Portugal, we can see that, since 1990, the number of women registered in the Portuguese Bar Association has increased exponentially (in 1990 there were 8,477 men and 2,842 women registered, and in2021 there were 15,135 men and 18,802 women registered).

This trend also applies to the number of female judicial magistrates in the first instance and higher courts (in 1991 there were847 men judges and 181 women and in 2021, there were 644 men and 1,091 women)

However, while it is true that the barriers to access to these professions have decreased over the years, it is also true that there continues to be inequality in access to top positions in these professions.

In the case of the legal profession, and according to Advocatus (news from 01-04-2018), in Portugal there were, in 2018, only 28% female partners in law firms.

As for the number of female Magistrates in the Supreme Court of Justice or Supreme Administrative Court, there is also still a great disparity between genders. According to Advocatus (news of 8-03-2021): "[...] indicated Ana Micaela Proença, that there is a "reduced number of female judges in the Supreme Court of Justice and in the Supreme Administrative Court", the following reasons being pointed out as explanatory of this reduced number, namely: "[...] discrimination of their parental rights and the difficulty of reconciling personal, family and professional life".

Regarding this discussion, let us also remember that, besides being a human right, the right to gender equality is a fundamental right enshrined in Article 13 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, according to which: "1. All citizens have the same social dignity and are equal before the law. 2. No one may be privileged, favored, prejudiced, deprived of any right, or exempted from any duty based on ancestry, sex, race, language, territory of origin, religion, political or ideological beliefs, education, economic situation, social condition or sexual orientation". [emphasis added].

Returning to that interview, Ginburg is asked at one point, "What do you think has been most important to you in the course of your life?" to which she replies, "It has been to help a movement for change. Change so that daughters are as esteemed as sons. There should not be places where women cannot enter, as there were so many in my youth. Today, thank God, those barriers have disappeared. We need two things: talent and hard work to go with it, but there should be no artificial barriers stopping us [...]".

So, if the barriers that prevented access to certain professions have been broken down over time due to the amazing work of personalities like Ginsburg´s, we ask: will the next step be to mitigate gender inequality in access to top positions?

Suggested citation: J.C. Coelho, " Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A true leader's story [on Gender Equality and Women's Rights]", 19th June, 28 February 2023.

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