Bahraini women have made great strides since the Gulf State Charter was amended in 2002 to grant them equivalent rights, adding the right to vote. Following a crusade led by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, 47% of government leadership positions are now held by women.
Four women ministers are women, as well as 11 undersecretaries, 30 deputy assistant secretaries and 12 magistrates.
Bahraini women account for 56 per cent of public sector workers and 35 per cent of the personal sector. They own 42% of the country’s companies.
The unemployment rate among Bahrain’s estimated 700,000 inhabitants is 5. 7 per cent. There are about 15,000 people looking for work, 76 percent of whom are women.
According to official statistics, published exclusively through The Media Line, the average age of Bahraini women for first marriage is 24. with one hundred women enrolling in primary, preparatory and secondary education, and 63 consistent with one hundred of postgraduate diplomas are obtained by women.
The quasi-governmental Supreme Council for Women established in 2001. In 2020, it helped amend and enact 93 laws in favor of equality between men and women, while women get many additional benefits, such as vacations and the ban on running at night.
However, there remains a vital grip of inequality when it comes to obtaining citizenship for young Bahrainis married to foreigners. Children of Bahraini men obtain citizenship directly at birth, while women married to foreigners will have to apply for their children to download citizenship.
Under Bahraini law, the children of a Bahraini woman of a non-Bahraini father are treated as citizens in all respects, but they cannot download unemployment benefits and will have to renew their apartment permit free of charge.
The Supreme Council for Women has directed all government agencies to identify equivalent opportunity committees to promote gender equivalence, and giant corporations will also have to form similar committees, to ensure that their internal regulations are amended so that women have equivalent job opportunities.
Today, even Bahraini society no longer has a female complex. They are all the same. There is no social objection in the case of a parliamentarian, director or minister. No one opposes the appointment of a solo because it is a one in Bahrain.
The Supreme Council for Women, in a statement, told The Media Line: “Women’s signs in Bahrain are making remarkable progress, documented through a number of foreign establishments such as UN Women, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. We have gone from the level of empowerment to the level of advancement, and we have also gone from the level of advancement to the fact that they are guilty of advancing their own truth via orientations to expand spaces of fair and equivalent opportunities with men. “
“The World Bank’s ‘Women, Business and Law 2022’ report tracked the Kingdom of Bahrain’s record for the highest progress in the ‘Women, Business and Law’ indicator for the year 2022, compared to several Arab countries in the 2021-2022 era, where the kingdom reached 65% on this indicator. In doing so, it climbed 18 places at a time in a year. Bahrain is among the countries that have noticed a significant improvement in the final score, due to legislative changes related to wages. , as it achieved a full score [100%] after having been 25% in 2021. Bahrain has achieved the largest improvement in the wage index among countries, and has increased its score in this domain from 0 to 100 in the last two years,” according to the Supreme Council.
Fatima Salman, a journalist and author, told The Media Line: “It’s like it used to be in Bahrain. Now the scenario is much higher for women after the creation of the council.
“Now even Bahraini society no longer has a complex of ‘s. They are all the same. There is no social objection in the case of a woman parliamentarian, director or minister. No one opposes the appointment of a woman just because she is a woman in Bahrain. We have a speaker of the House of Representatives, and we also have settlement leaders and ministers. It wasn’t like that before 21 years ago,” he added.
“All we expect here is for the children of a Bahraini woman with a non-Bahraini father to obtain citizenship directly, not after applying,” Salman said.
Zahra Al Hamrani, a tour guide, told The Media Line: “The third-class cabin for excursions is all the rage in Bahrain, and this has opened up the opportunity for us to work there from the beginning.
“I am divorced and have two children, and thanks to the Supreme Council of Women, I was able to stand up. There is no longer an inferior view of divorced women in Bahraini society,” she said. “The Supreme Council of Women has a special committee that supports battered women and those seeking divorce. The council appoints a lawyer, also follows all procedures, a scholarship is awarded to divorced women, divorced or widowed women obtain housing and are given priority on housing waiting lists. It also provides mental support, social direction, and everything women want to get up and be loose and independent.
There is no law in Bahrain that is passed in consultation with the Supreme Council of Women, in addition to its amendments that are in the interest of women.
MP Fatima Al Qatari told The Media Line: “The Supreme Council of Women has delivered what no other party in Bahrain has delivered, thanks to the abundant efforts of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka, wife of the King of Bahrain. “
“There is no law in Bahrain that is passed in consultation with the Supreme Council of Women, in addition to its amendments that are in the interest of women,” the lawmaker said.
Aqila Mahdi, an aeronautical engineer from Bahrain who works in the UAE, told The Media Line: “I’m one of the first women to get a degree in aeronautical engineering, and as a woman, the box is very strange, but it’s become a reality, and it’s easy.
“Now I am running to gain experience and will be back in Bahrain soon. In Bahrain, there is no difference between a woman’s salary and a man’s if they occupy the same position, in the same grade and with the same qualifications, and there are not many vacancies for women,” she said.