The legality of various proposals for a personal status law in relation to international agreements Bahrain is party to was discussed at a meeting at the Bahrain Young Ladies Association's premises in Manama last night.
Lawyer Hassan Ismail analysed two proposals, one submitted by a group of five Shi'ite religious leaders and another jointly written by Shi'ite and Sunni clerics several years ago.
Mr Ismail said that he found both to contain clauses which violate international standards regarding women's rights.
"In some cases the Shi'te proposal was better and in others the joint one," he said.
"The problem is that each sect, and even branches within sects, have their own ideas, many of which are not strictly within Islam but came about afterwards.
"For example, the Shi'te sect consider that girls can get married at child-bearing age, beginning as early as nine.
"Within the major branches of the Sunni sect there are disagreements. Some say the age is 15, others 18 and still others nine."
Mr Ismail said neither proposal restricted men from marrying more than one wife, which puts them both at odds with internationally agreed standards.
"In the Shi'ite proposal, men are allowed to marry up to four wives and it doesn't even put any conditions in place. The earlier proposal states several conditions including that the husband should be able to treat all his wives fairly," he said.
"However, both of these proposals go against international agreements to which Bahrain is party."
Mr Ismail said that there are also disagreements about how much influence parents should have when it comes to deciding who their daughters should be able to marry.