Women’s Rights in Gulf Countries
Women’s Rights
in Gulf Countries
By- Aditya Anantha Krishnan Iyer
We have repeatedly heard or read about the siege of women in
Saudi Arabia or elsewhere in other countries, confined by religious norms.
These affirmations are based on certain grounds. Women in the Gulf Countries
are often labelled as second-class citizens, due to curtailments in personal
legal status, nationality laws, limited participation in political life, etc. The Global Gender Gap 2012 ranks Saudi
Arabia and Oman among the ten countries with the widest gender gap.[1]
Human
Rights Watch World Report, 2013[2] highlights that in Saudi
Arabia millions of women and migrants live and work under an oppressive system.
There is a system which Saudi Arabia implements called ‘guardianship system’,
in which women are constantly dependent on their guardian, a male relative or
the husband during married life, to take decisions. As a result, women are not
allowed to drive, to work in certain jobs – that of a judge for example or to
undergo certain medical procedures without approval from the male guardian, or
for that matter even travel alone without the approval of her guardian.
In all the
Gulf countries, the personal status laws rely upon the jurisdiction of the
Sharia’h, which is a mix of religion, or what is considered divine law and
juridical interpretation. The penal codes do not competently tackle violence
against women. The laws, in the form they are, do not prevent sexual harassment
or domestic abuse. Under this framework and discretionary, power of the male
judge the wide gender gap becomes obvious.
Another
important issue which is raised when it comes to gender is the political
participation of women in the region. Women tend to be given either the minimum
quota or least influential positions; this is justified through a variety of
arguments, including appeals to religion, tradition, or claims regarding lack
of qualifications and experience while the actual reason is to keep women under
control, or within specific limits of political space. Decorative participation
– without real power – is also often all that is granted. Nonetheless, it is
important to keep in mind that there are genuine steps forward in the region,
such as moves in the United Arab Emirates to populate their ministerial cabinet
with women, appoint women to the Federal National Council (FNC) to compensate
the low number of elected women [3], and appoint one of these women as the speaker of the
council [4].
The lack of women’s integration is not from
malicious intentions; rather, the status of women comes from regime security.
Director of the Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs Ali Al-Ahmed said,
“variations in the status of women are linked to the policy goals of each of
the ruling Gulf monarchies. The variation of women’s status is an expression of
who a given government is trying to please from the political/social fabric.”
In today’s globalized world, the status of women in the Gulf is less religious
and cultural rooted and instead the result of fears and security measures
stemming from the past 50 years, which molded different groups, and stakeholders
with varying experiences to form conflicting views. These fears, old
generation’s lived realities, competing strategies, and traditions have all led
to a seemingly lethargic domestic policy, and unfortunately women have been at
the expense of this.
Empowering women and prioritizing their inclusion
will dramatically shift economic development away from natural resources and
into the region’s vision for a sustainable front founded on human capital. For
the UAE, which is similar to its neighboring Gulf states, raising female
employment to male levels would advance their overall GDP by 12 percent, due to
a productive national workforce that would grow twofold in size. The gap
between economically inactive and economically active populations is the widest
in the Gulf region of the Middle East, so inevitably, we find that if women —
who compose half of the population — are given more opportunities and platforms
to create, the whole economy will grow and innovate off their successes. It is
important to note that the Gulf States are the most resilient to instability in
the Middle East, therefore they are the optimal actors to change women’s
inclusion for the better, and transfer it to the broader Middle East region.
Women are not only transforming their own roles
in society, but they are also actively leading their nation into some of the
greatest development feats. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi is UAE’s Minister of
International Cooperation and Development and among the world’s most powerful
philanthropists and businesswomen; she propelled the UAE’S rapid growth and had
a key role in distributing billions to international projects on improving
quality of life. In Saudi Arabia, Dr. Yasmin Altwaijri is among Saudi’s top
senior scientists leading one of the most extensive studies measuring obesity,
diabetes, mental health issues and decreasing the sense of taboo from seeking
treatment. She is reshaping the health sector in the region, which has a
paramount effect on society’s perception. Dr. Hessa Al Jaber is Qatar’s Minister
of Information and Communications Technology; she is the force behind the
creation of Qatar Assistive Technology Center, a successful organization
dedicated to connecting people with disabilities to the world of technology and
equipping them with tools to participate in international markets. She holds
the fifth spot on Forbes list of Most Powerful Women in Government in the
Middle East for 2014.
While women
are increasingly receiving positions in government, whether appointed or
elected, it is still uncertain as to how much influence these positions wield
on the ground. Most positions for women have been in ministerial cabinets, shura councils, or municipal
councils, where they are appointed or elected, yet do not have substantial
influence in policymaking. The Saudi and Omani shura councils may however be
exceptions, as they are ostensibly open to those who prove themselves
qualified, with recommendations based on research.
As governments are revising their policies, Women
are climbing the ladder to leadership, and possibly crossing the well-known
glass ceiling. The international community can play a role of vital importance
to push women empowerment forward by focusing on giving recommendations to the
governments and helping them build strong institutions that would ensure
women’s development and progress. As the Gulf States are situated in a
vulnerable neighborhood, the government needs to be receptive to the rising
generation’s requests, they are the majority and they will lead. Alienation of
participation and unequal sectors of society will only lead to turmoil. Today,
we see the Middle East experiencing a bitter taste of the repercussions of
domestic alienation.
The international discourse of women has had a
significant impact on women in the Arab region, from credible UN conferences,
international forums to scholarship exchanged through cyberspace. All of the
above have positively helped women and their families to become empowered.
International efforts play a key role, however ultimately the greatest steps
are in the hands of the governments in the Gulf.
One should not undermine the capabilities of the
Gulf woman, nor hold a narrow perception that women are not empowered. The
region is in a delicate time, inundated in rising threats and various
stakeholders lobbying for conflicting policies. Unfortunately, at the moment
there’s a significant amount of people who view the empowerment of women as a
Western value. Additionally, it does not help when international actors attack
the Gulf region in a crass manner, as then reform would be interpreted as an
intrusive demand of the West. Adversely, this has led a segment of society –
and within it stakeholders in the political fabric – to impede efforts for
positive women’s inclusion. Remaining diplomatic and constructive is
fundamental for the progress of women and the rising generation propping them
up.
There is a great need politically and economically,
for international actors to invest in the GCC away from natural resources. For
this to be a success, the Gulf should take proper measures of inclusion for
literate women, a demographic that is suffering from tight job markets and
gendered occupations. If half of the population of the Gulf can be equally
incorporated into the economy, it would create a greater reassurance to foreign
investors as well as ultimately, lead to the happiness, prosperity and growth
of their country.
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By-
Aditya Anantha Krishnan
Student of Gujarat National Law University,
Gandhinagar
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References-
[1] http://www.weforum.org/issues/global-gender-gap
[2] http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/saudi-arabia
[3] https://gulfnews.com/news/uae/government/fnc-appoints-20-members-including-8-women-1.1620784
[4] https://gulfnews.com/news/uae/government/uae-elects-first-female-parliamentary-speaker-1.1622454