Kenya's aspiring lawyers grapple with harassment, abuse

DW (English)

On-the-job training for aspiring lawyers in Kenya is often marred by more than academic pressure. For many young women, it means quietly enduring harassment, bullying, and exploitation.

Transcript

00:00When Mercy began training for her admission to the bar, she expected mentorship and guidance.

00:08Instead, the young lawyer endured harassment, bullying, and exploitation throughout the

00:13pupillage. What should have been a season of growth became a time of despair.

00:19Most of my superiors were very verbally abusive, so they would make comments that would make you

00:24feel smaller instead of actually encouraging you. Sometimes you're not even paid. So it

00:29feels somehow as if it's exorcional.

00:34Mercy's story is far from unique in Kenya, where the road to becoming a lawyer demands

00:40ambition, sacrifice, and silent suffering for many young women.

00:45I think pupillage is one of the most challenging times when you think about the sexual harassment

00:50that goes on in most workplaces.

00:53In 2025, over 1,200 workplace harassment cases filed with Kenya's National Gender and

01:00Equality Commission. Those included complaints from within the legal sector itself.

01:06When we were applying for pupillage, one was turned into a driver. They were chauffeuring

01:12their partner's children, which is crazy because how is that related to the practice of the law.

01:18When things are not relevant to practice and someone's career progression, then surely that is

01:25harassment. Some of these people that are perpetrators of these wrongs have senior positions.

01:33So people tend to shy away from maybe reporting it to a police station or filing a proper suit in court

01:41because they don't know what will happen to their careers because we're just starting out anyway.

01:45Law Society of Kenya Policy outlaws any unwelcome sexual conduct that creates a hostile work environment.

01:54Yet, enforcement is weak. Recent graduates say the profession isn't doing enough to protect young lawyers.

02:01Not everyone agrees there's a problem. In some firms, tradition still frames pupillage as a test of obedience,

02:07not competence. From what I've experienced and from what I've seen in the farms,

02:13it's more of seniority. And when it's more of seniority, it's about obedience.

02:23If your senior tells you something, then you should obey without questioning because he's your senior.

02:31These attitudes persist, shaping spaces where silence is rewarded and speaking out can cost you

02:37your future. So what would real change look like?

02:40I think a lot of institutions would, I would believe, would need to make it more public,

02:50even for the purpose of these pupils, giving them a platform in which they can now report such cases.

03:01But the story doesn't have to end in silence.

03:04The Law Society of Kenya has tried, but we can do better.

03:08They've tried in terms of just educating, educating us more when we're at the Kenya School of Law,

03:15what to expect, what to do, and all that.

03:17The practice has not significantly changed, but you are getting there slowly.

03:23The fight against sexual harassment in Kenya's legal profession is about restoring dignity to justice.

03:29When the legal community embraces accountability, empathy, and strong policies,

03:35it can transform workplaces and reaffirm that law exists to safeguard every person's rights.

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