Bullying ‘at the bar’ is just the tip of the iceberg – there’s sexism and racism, too, writes barrister Charlotte Proudman, as she reveals the multiple incidents she’s witnessed
Charlotte we appreciate you having to fight for fairness for yourself in the bar system whilst fighting on all fronts for fairness in the legal system for the abused. It must be very draining physically, mentally and emotionally. In effect you are suffering like all of us, where we suffer ILLEGAL coercive control but difficult to prove and acheive a good outcome in the legal system, You suffer a version of LEGAL coercive control within the hierarchy of the bar. The bar really should set the best example and aim to be inclusive and not discriminatory. Your actions hopefully one day will make a difference there. The solicitor and colleagues booing should be ashamed of themselves.
Essentially working against someone that is trying to achieve good. Luckily what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Keep pushing up the ladder, reach for the sky no matter how difficult because eventually you’ll land in the stars somewhere.
I’m sure if you created a register of all your supporters, we could campaign and hold peaceful protests to emphasise your voice.
I would argue further and say the bar is simply not a safe place for minorities and women. The damning thing is that from the barristers, come the judiciary. This means, by default, the courtroom is not a safe place for minorities and women - and research has confirmed this. In family courts, for example, minority women are far less likely to be believed and far more likely to lose custody of their children to an abusive partner - this is documented heavily by the UK gov’s own reports and by the UN. And God help any ethnic minority accused of a crime. An Asian TikTok girl got 32 years for sending text messages; while an actual white woman who tortured her stepson for months and then killed him by slamming his head against the floor repeatedly, got 26. It’s dangerous to be colored in ‘Great’ Britain.
If the BSB cannot control such behavior of its barristers while they are practicing, then the perpetrators will simply become more emboldened and more horrific: ‘as in their playdays, so too their heydays.’
They will become those racist, sexist, emboldened judges who trample over justice in their self-entitled narcissism. By then it’s too late: the BSB is a toothless dog; for judges, there is simply nothing - no body at all - that addresses this behavior. Sure, you have the judicial conduct investigations office, but their range is so limited that it’s pretty much useless.
The two most dangerous things to be in the UK are a young, black man and an intelligent woman of color. Guns or no guns, both will be shot down.
The latter is universally hated by everyone in power and stereotyped negatively in every way.
An example: if they are able to control their emotions, they ‘do not care’ and are ‘disingenuous’. If they exhibit indignation at courtroom injustice, they are labeled ‘aggressive’. The angry black woman troupe is particularly alive and well in the hallowed inns of the ‘bar’. The subtext is clear: they should know their place and shut up and put up, or they will be punished. And punished they are.
As an ethnic minority woman, my father always told me to act dumb. It was the best advice anyone has ever given me. I should have paid heed, but instead, I was met with a barrage of the angry privileged whose toes I was inadvertently standing on. By the way, have you ever tried to act ‘dumb’? It’s not as easy as people make out. In reality, it means to keep your mouth closed and try to look perpetually confused but for an ethnic minority woman, it simply either contributes to the ‘mystique’ fetish or makes people insecure and irascible at what they perceive as your silent judgment.
This article reads just like that - precious mummy’s boys upset at the competition of those they see as inherently inferior and ganging up together to gaslight them to fudge in order to preserve the status quo. The insecurity of the ‘ego of the male who shouts the loudest’ never fails to amaze me. The advocate’s job is literally, to shout.
The BSB seems to be a body that harasses ethnic minorities and women while preserving said status quo and soothing the egos of the perpetrators - literally stroking them to sleep with their thumbs in their mouths.
Incidentally, is the BSB made up of barristers? If so, it would explain why it’s utterly useless.
As above, the UK knows this is happening - the government has written tons about it, as have journalists. The UK is pretty good at writing reports but it’s pretty rubbish at making any progress with such reports if it means rich, entitled white boys have to play nice.
Charlotte we appreciate you having to fight for fairness for yourself in the bar system whilst fighting on all fronts for fairness in the legal system for the abused. It must be very draining physically, mentally and emotionally. In effect you are suffering like all of us, where we suffer ILLEGAL coercive control but difficult to prove and acheive a good outcome in the legal system, You suffer a version of LEGAL coercive control within the hierarchy of the bar. The bar really should set the best example and aim to be inclusive and not discriminatory. Your actions hopefully one day will make a difference there. The solicitor and colleagues booing should be ashamed of themselves.
Essentially working against someone that is trying to achieve good. Luckily what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Keep pushing up the ladder, reach for the sky no matter how difficult because eventually you’ll land in the stars somewhere.
I’m sure if you created a register of all your supporters, we could campaign and hold peaceful protests to emphasise your voice.
I would argue further and say the bar is simply not a safe place for minorities and women. The damning thing is that from the barristers, come the judiciary. This means, by default, the courtroom is not a safe place for minorities and women - and research has confirmed this. In family courts, for example, minority women are far less likely to be believed and far more likely to lose custody of their children to an abusive partner - this is documented heavily by the UK gov’s own reports and by the UN. And God help any ethnic minority accused of a crime. An Asian TikTok girl got 32 years for sending text messages; while an actual white woman who tortured her stepson for months and then killed him by slamming his head against the floor repeatedly, got 26. It’s dangerous to be colored in ‘Great’ Britain.
If the BSB cannot control such behavior of its barristers while they are practicing, then the perpetrators will simply become more emboldened and more horrific: ‘as in their playdays, so too their heydays.’
They will become those racist, sexist, emboldened judges who trample over justice in their self-entitled narcissism. By then it’s too late: the BSB is a toothless dog; for judges, there is simply nothing - no body at all - that addresses this behavior. Sure, you have the judicial conduct investigations office, but their range is so limited that it’s pretty much useless.
The two most dangerous things to be in the UK are a young, black man and an intelligent woman of color. Guns or no guns, both will be shot down.
The latter is universally hated by everyone in power and stereotyped negatively in every way.
An example: if they are able to control their emotions, they ‘do not care’ and are ‘disingenuous’. If they exhibit indignation at courtroom injustice, they are labeled ‘aggressive’. The angry black woman troupe is particularly alive and well in the hallowed inns of the ‘bar’. The subtext is clear: they should know their place and shut up and put up, or they will be punished. And punished they are.
As an ethnic minority woman, my father always told me to act dumb. It was the best advice anyone has ever given me. I should have paid heed, but instead, I was met with a barrage of the angry privileged whose toes I was inadvertently standing on. By the way, have you ever tried to act ‘dumb’? It’s not as easy as people make out. In reality, it means to keep your mouth closed and try to look perpetually confused but for an ethnic minority woman, it simply either contributes to the ‘mystique’ fetish or makes people insecure and irascible at what they perceive as your silent judgment.
This article reads just like that - precious mummy’s boys upset at the competition of those they see as inherently inferior and ganging up together to gaslight them to fudge in order to preserve the status quo. The insecurity of the ‘ego of the male who shouts the loudest’ never fails to amaze me. The advocate’s job is literally, to shout.
The BSB seems to be a body that harasses ethnic minorities and women while preserving said status quo and soothing the egos of the perpetrators - literally stroking them to sleep with their thumbs in their mouths.
Incidentally, is the BSB made up of barristers? If so, it would explain why it’s utterly useless.
As above, the UK knows this is happening - the government has written tons about it, as have journalists. The UK is pretty good at writing reports but it’s pretty rubbish at making any progress with such reports if it means rich, entitled white boys have to play nice.
Whispers behind closed doors of the all male elite Judiciary