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Manama: The Bahrain Women's Union, a loose
association of 12 women's organisations, has pledged to
reinvigorate a dormant plan to promulgate a family
status law in the kingdom.
The union said at a press conference on Saturday that
it would table its new proposal after bringing together
all concerned parties at a workshop next month to issue
recommendations on the law.
"We will hold a symposium for representatives from
the civil society, lawyers, religious leaders and
independent activists to assess past efforts to have the
law," Mariam Al Rowaie, head of the Bahrain Women's
Union, said.
Bahrain has been sharply divided over promulgating a
status law that would govern family relations and ensure
greater rights for women and mothers.
Conservatives have opposed the law, saying that it
would clash with Islamic precepts and would upset social
family order.
Need for awareness
But activists say that the law is needed to address
family injustices and help women and children with their
rights instead of placing their situations at the
discretion of court judges who have no formal text to
guide them on the verdicts.
The union added that it would also push for the
introduction of a quota system in the Bahraini elections
to help women
win. |