By global standards, Kuwait has been late to implement measures that grant women equal protection. Education and employment opportunities opened up for Kuwaiti women in the 1960s, but their participation in the political arena remained severely restricted. Until May 2005, women in Kuwait were forbidden to either vote in elections or run for office. Kuwait’s family law discriminates against women in the social sphere, as do customary traditions.
Family matters are governed by Islamic Sharia law. The majority of the population (about 70 per cent) is subject to Sunni family law, while Shia Muslims have their own family law.
The legal age of marriage in Kuwait is 15 years for women and 18 years for men. Early marriage is increasingly rare, but for the most part marriage is still very much an arrangement between families. According to Sunni family law, women cannot freely choose their husbands; they must obtain prior approval from their families or guardians. A 2004 United Nations report estimated that 5 per cent of Kuwaiti girls between 15 and 19 years of age were married, divorced or widowed.
Both Sunni and Shia family laws permit polygamy. Sharia law generally allows Muslim men to take as many as four wives. However, before marrying a second (or subsequent) wife, they must prove their ability to financially support the additional wife.
Kuwaiti women face discrimination in regard to parental authority: Islamic Sharia law views fathers as the natural guardians of children, whereas mothers are seen as the physical, but not legal, custodians. In the event of divorce, Sunni family law gives mothers the right to custody of sons until they reach the age of 15 years and of daughters until they marry. However, mothers who wish to remarry during this period lose their custody rights. Women cannot confer citizenship to children born to non-Kuwaiti fathers.
Islamic law provides for detailed and complex calculations of inheritance shares. Women may inherit from their fathers, mothers, husbands or children and, under certain conditions, from other family members. However, their share is generally smaller than that to which men are entitled. Daughters, for example, typically inherit half as much as sons. This is commonly justified by the argument that women have no financial responsibility towards their husbands and children.
Lack of data makes it difficult to estimate the prevalence of violence against women in Kuwait. There are no laws that explicitly address domestic violence or sexual harassment in the workplace. Victims of domestic violence rarely report incidents and there is little assistance or protection for those that do. So-called honour-killings do occur in Kuwait. Some critics argue that the law, at least to some extent, justifies these crimes by allowing for lower penalties when they are committed in rage as a response to the victim having committed an unlawful act (such as adultery).
Female genital mutilation is not practised in Kuwait. However, there is evidence to suggest that Kuwait is a country of concern in relation to missing women.
All Kuwaiti citizens over 21 years of age, regardless of sex, have the right to engage in commercial activities. Hence, women have the legal right to access to land and access to property other than land. The law also allows women to have access to bank loans and enter into financial contracts.
Women’s freedom of movement is limited in that they cannot go out at night or travel abroad without first requesting permission from their parents or male guardians. Married women must also have permission from their husbands to apply for a passport, although unmarried women over 21 years of age can apply independently. With the exception of a few professions, women are legally forbidden from working at night. Women in Kuwait have freedom of dress. However, the number of women who wear veils in public has increased in recent years. According to the Associated Press, this is true for both the face veil (even though it is often identified with Islamic fundamentalists) and the headscarf.
Al-Mughni, H. (2005), Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Citizenship and Justice – Kuwait Country Report, Freedom House Inc., Washington DC.
The Associated Press (2005), Women in Kuwait Get Vote, International Herald Tribune, Paris.
The Associated Press (2006), A Look at the Wearing of Veils, and Disputes on the Issue, Across the Muslim World, International Herald Tribune, Paris.
CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) (2003), Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Kuwait, Combined Initial and Second Periodic Reports of States Parties, CEDAW/C/KWT/1-2, CEDAWNew York, NY.
Uhlman, K. (2004), Overview of Shari’a and Prevalent Customs in Islamic Societies: Divorce and Child Custody, Expert Law, www.expertlaw.com.
UN (United Nations) (2004), World Fertility Report 2003, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York, NY.
