Survey highlights discrimination, pay gaps among lawyers

A survey of 2,500 young lawyers found that 51.2 per cent of women claimed that they have faced discrimination at work, with 3.5 per cent saying that they were assaulted or received threats.

The data was collected by the Cyprus Bar Association in cooperation with the University of Cyprus which sought to gain a more surgical understanding of the issues faced by Cyprus’ young lawyers – ranging from average pay to work-place harassment.

Their report, released on Wednesday, also stated that 23.3 per cent of respondents said they had faced discrimination based on their socio-economic background.

It also found that seven per cent faced discrimination due to their sexual orientation, while for men this figure rose to 13 per cent. A further 12 per cent said they were discriminated against due to their political beliefs. But 97.5 per cent said they never reported the incidents stemming from the two cases listed above.

Nine per cent said they had faced sexual harassment (ten per cent of women and five per cent of men) but 93 per cent said they never reported the incident.

The data also revealed that six per cent of respondents earn less than €800 a month, 21 per cent earn between €800-1,000, 32.5 per cent earn €1000-1,500, 22 per cent earn €1,500-2,000 and 13 per cent earn above €2,000. The smallest group, five per cent, earn over €3,000 a month.

The widest gender gap however was observed within that five per cent, as 12.1 per cent of male lawyers said that they earn above €3,000 a month compared to just 2.7 per cent of women.