Former judge regrets not calling out sexual harassment

One of the UK's top female judges has revealed the struggles she faced in a male-dominated profession.

Judge Wendy Joseph QC, who recently published a book about her career, said as a young barrister in the 1970s she was groped by a colleague.

"I'm not proud of myself that I didn't stand up more and make complaints," she told BBC Radio Wales.

But she said women have come a "long way" since then and "would stand up for themselves now".

Judge Joseph, 70, grew up in Newport and Cardiff and attended Cathays High School before reading law at Cambridge University and being called to the bar in 1975.

She said the law profession was a "different world" then, being "totally male-dominated" and difficult for a woman who wanted to be "taken seriously".

One male colleague who she knew well groped her when they were in a lift together.

She said it left her speechless and she managed only to give him a "filthy look.

"In those days one felt so isolated and I did nothing about it because it just didn't occur to me that I could," she said. "You felt that if you made trouble you'd stand less chance of making a career.

"All I did was stop using the lift."

Judge Joseph went on to join the bench at the Old Bailey in 2012, at that time the only woman among 16 judges.

But when she retired in March, the Old Bailey had reached gender parity.

"By the time I left things had completely changed in terms of balance," she said.

Her retirement allowed her to publish a book, called Unlawful Killings, in which she describes how society had often failed by the time someone was standing before her in court charged with murder.

But looking back at her career she said she wishes now she had done more about the incident of sexual harassment she faced.

"I'm ashamed of the man who did it," she said. "But I think the point is women have come a long way since then.

"I like to feel the women would stand up for themselves now and I also like to think that there are very few men who behave like that."

Judge Joseph said the biggest challenge the justice system now faces is getting more ethnically diverse judges.

"The courts are there to serve the community and ought to better reflect the community they are serving."

As for women now choosing justice as a career, she said more accommodation needs to be made for those with children.

"Things are better but still not as they should be... women are stretching themselves so thin trying to deal with work and families," she said. "I see really promising women who have good careers ahead of them suddenly disappear from the scene because they've gone off and had a family.

"It's very difficult for a woman who does want to come back to claw back what they've lost."

Judge Joseph said courts must do a better job in accommodating the career paths of women with families.

She said in the past a barrister would "never dream" of asking a judge to end proceedings because they had to go and pick up a sick child, adding that in recent years that has become more acceptable.