Duty of women to take part in civic affairs

Press, 21 July 1976, Page 12

Duty of women to take part in civic affairs

Mrs Jean Leaf, president of the New Zealand northern section of Soroptiniist International has firm views not onlyon women’s rights, but of women’s duty to take a role in community affairs, which have been largely the preserve of men in the past.

Mrs Leaf is one of eight women Justices of the Peace in Auckland who regularly preside at Magistrate’s Court sittings. Last week, Mrs Leaf attended the annual conference of the New Zealand southern (South Island) region of the Soroptimist organisation, and expressed a wish to visit and address members of the two newly formed clubs in the South Island — at Motueka and Ashburton. Her interest in this is that she was formerly the extension officer for the whole of

New Zealand, helping new clubs to become established. This was before the national organisation established the separate northern and southern divisions. Mrs Leaf said the Motueka and Ashburton clubs, along with the Howick ciub in the northern division, which she helped establish this year, would be presented with their charters later this year by Miss Mary Whitehead, of Adelaide, who is the president of the council of the South-West Pacific region of the international body.

Ashburton’s petition to become a club has already been accepted, and it is the eighth formed in the southern division. The northern division has 13 clubs. Ashburton’s president is Mrs Jean Campbell. Mrs Leaf said the Soroptimist International organisation was the women’s counterpart of Rotary International. There were 1700 clubs in 50 countries of the world, and with a total membership of more than 56,000. Until her retirement, Mrs Leaf was the administrative assistant to the manager of the New Zealand Dairy Board in Auckland, and had been associated with the dairying industry for 29 years.

She is one of eight women Justices of the Peace in Auckland who share duty with more than 50 male Justices in the increasing work of Magistrate’s Court sittings. Mrs Leaf said the Justices have three years of training to equip them for Court sittings. She has been sitting at the Bench for the last five years, averaging about one day a week. Mrs Leaf said she believed it was women’s democratic right to accept any responsibility that was given to them — not merely to strive for this because it was International Women's PPC.Hfjp. She said that, to this end, the northern division of the Soroptimists had put forward a remit to ask the Minister of Justice (Mr

Thomson) to replace a section of the Justice Act, 1908, which allows any woman to be exempted from jury service without her having to give a reason. Mrs Leaf said it was the organisation’s contention that if women wished to have equality they must accept equal responsibilities and obligations with men. If this was repealed, women and in certain cases men, could still claim exemption if family circumstances made jury service a hardship.