The Constitution of 2002 provides equal rights to women and men of Bahrain and has improved the situation of women in many areas. In other ways, the situation of women continues to be affected by patriarchal norms and traditions. Women’s level of education is often high, but their employment opportunities are limited: unemployment among women is almost twice as high as among men. Bahrain’s first report on the UN Millennium Development Goals identifies changing traditional views of the role of women – both in society and the workforce – as a main challenge to be addressed.
Legislation in Bahrain offers women a low level of protection within the family context. As in other areas of the Arab world, the average age of marriage for both men and women in Bahrain has increased in recent years, indicating that early marriage occurs less frequently. No minimum age of marriage had been defined in Bahrain until October 2007 when the Minister of Justice fixed the legal ages at 18 for males and 15 for females. This decision immediately raised concerns among national women’s rights advocates and international organisations concerned with the rights of children. A 2004 United Nations report estimated that 7 per cent of girls between 15 and 19 years of age were married, divorced or widowed.
Polygamy is legal following provisions in Islamic Sharia law, which allows a Muslim man to take as many as four wives if he can support them financially. The prevalence of polygamy is reported to be low; it is practised only by a small number of Islamic fundamentalists and older generations in rural villages.
Fathers in Bahrain hold legal guardianship over children; formally, their parental authority is stronger than that of mothers. In the event of divorce, the mother is granted custody of daughters under the age of nine and sons under the age of seven. When children attain these ages, custody normally reverts to the father. Women cannot confer citizenship to children born to a non-Bahraini father.
Islamic Sharia law provides guidelines for calculating inheritance shares. In general, a woman may inherit from her father, her mother, her husband, her children and, under certain conditions, from other members of her family. However, her share is often smaller than a man’s entitlement. The US Department of State outlines an important distinction between Bahrain’s two primary Muslim sects. In the absence of a direct male heir, Bahraini Shia interpretations allow daughters to inherit the full estate of a deceased father. By contrast, Sunni traditions oblige daughters to share such an inheritance with the brothers or other male relatives of the deceased.
Social institutions in Bahrain can be said to provide women with a low level of protection for physical integrity. To date, Bahrain has no specific laws concerning violence against women. Several provisions in the Penal Code protect women to some extent, but some appear to be contradictory. For example, one article of the law states that rape should be penalised by life in prison; another article states that no penalty should be inflicted if the rapist agrees to marry the victim. Some critics argue that existing law can be used to justify honour killings, as some provisions in the Penal Code allow for lower penalties when a crime is committed in anger following an unlawful act (such as adultery) on the part of the victim.
Domestic and spousal abuse is quite common in Bahrain, but the issue is rarely discussed and incidents are seldom reported to the police. The law does not recognise the concept of spousal rape. A number of shelters and women’s centres have opened in recent years. Female genital mutilation is no longer practised in Bahrain. There is some evidence to suggest that Bahrain could be a country of concern in relation to missing women.
For the most part, legislation concerning ownership rights guarantees equality for women in Bahrain, and the country’s economic climate encourages entrepreneurship among both men and women. However, social norms still view the world of business as a predominantly male domain.
The law allows Bahraini women access to land and access to property other than land, although many women still authorise a male family member to manage such assets. There is some discrimination in regard to government-supplied housing, which can be owned by women only if the male head of the household dies or when granted custody of children following divorce.
Women do not face legal restriction in their access to bank loans: they can open bank accounts and dispose of their own income. However, some women prefer to give their earnings to their husbands for joint disposal.
Women in Bahrain have a relatively low degree of civil liberty. Although the law provides for freedom of movement for all persons, women are sometimes limited by socially imposed restrictions. For example, some women are still pressured to request permission from the male head of the household before travelling abroad or leaving the residence to visit friends or family, even though they are legally entitled to do either freely. In addition, it remains socially unacceptable for women to live alone.
There are no legal restrictions on freedom of dress. Some women take a rather liberal approach to clothing; others indicate they are uncomfortable in public unless completely covered according to Islamic traditions. All women, including both nationals and foreigners, are encouraged to avoid revealing attire.
Al-Najjar, S. (2005), “Country Reports: Bahrain”, Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Citizenship and Justice, Freedom House, Inc., Washington, DC.
British Council, Bahrain (2005), Short Term Visitors Notes, April 2005, British Council, London.
Gulf News (2007), Minimum Marriage Age ‘Must Be Kept’, www.gulf-news.com.
Osman, M., H. Rashad and F. Roudi-Fahimi (2005), Marriage in the Arab World, PRB (Population Refe¬rence Bureau), Washington DC.
UN (United Nations) (2004), World Fertility Report 2003, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York, NY.
UN and Kingdom of Bahrain (2003), Millennium Development Goals: First Report, UN and Kingdom of Bahrain, Manama.
US Department of State (2007), Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Bahrain, US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Washington, DC.
