Cornelia Sorabji: India's first woman lawyer
She was the first to graduate from Oxford and was a pioneer for women lawyers in Britain.
Witness History · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
Cornelia Sorabji was the first woman lawyer working in India. She helped women living in purdah or seclusion in the 19th century who had no access to the law. The women were married into royal families and prevented from seeing men other than their husbands or family. This meant they had no way of seeking justice when they received cruel treatment, attempts on their lives or were disinherited by their husbands' families. Cornelia Sorabji was able to visit these women and often helped free them from violent abuse. She was so successful that some royal families tried to kill her. Claire Bowes has been speaking to her nephew, Sir Richard Sorabji, about her life and how she helped pave the way for women lawyers in Britain.
Photo: Cornelia Sorabji in a BBC studio in January1931.