Barriers to the Advancement of Women Judges in the Judicial Profession in Spain

Abstract

Despite women being the majority in the Spanish judiciary, they rarely hold the most powerful positions. The aim of this work is to explore why Spanish women judges fail to occupy such positions. To this end, a cross-sectional, exploratory study with a qualitative design was carried out. Specifically, 29 semi-structured interviews were conducted with judges working in the judiciary in Spain, 11 men and 18 women. Almost all those interviewed asserted that access to the judicial profession is the same for men and women, but not all of the respondents believed that there were equal opportunities for promotion. The opinions and perceptions of both the male and female judges evidence that the gender dynamics in the judicial system hinder the ascension of women in the judiciary. Moreover, gender blindness conceals such dynamics and complicates the proposal of corrective measures.