A high profile New Zealand lawyer has taken to wearing women’s clothing to court to protest the old boys’ network he accuses of dominating the country’s justice system.
“I will now as a lawyer be wearing women’s clothing. The deeper the cover-up, the prettier the frocks,” Dr Rob Moodie said in a report in the Dominion Post newspaper on Tuesday.
Moodie, a bald, moustachioed 67-year-old arrived at a Wellington court Monday wearing a blouse and jacket and a long skirt, with stockings covering his hairy calves, the newspaper said.
The former representative rugby player and married father of three wore kaftans 25 years ago when he was secretary of the police union. He said he has a “strong female gender bias” and had always favoured women’s clothing.
The lawyer, who now wants to be referred to as “Ms Alice” in the courtroom, has been charged with contempt for putting a report suppressed by a judge on the internet. He said he plans to have a new dress made for a hearing next month on the case.
He said the male ethos of the judiciary was “a culture of intimidation, authority, power and control”.
“My confidence in the male ethos is zilch”. — AFP