WUNRN
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf are
the seven Arab
states which border the Persian Gulf - Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates (UAE).
ARAB GULF STATES WOMEN – MODERNIZATION & MARGINALIZATION –
ANALYSIS – VARIANCE BY COUNTRY
Major Mariam al-Mansouri of the United Arab Emirates' Armed
Forces in her fighter cockpit (Photo credit: Youtube screen capture)
By Mariam Mecky, - 7 Dec 2014
Arab Gulf women are usually perceived by many feminists and
commentators as one homogenous group.
However,
despite certain common conditions for women in the region, rights enjoyed by
women differ from one Gulf country to another.
Lujain
Al-Hathlol, a Saudi activist, was arrested Monday night at the Saudi border
after she arrived driving from the United Arab Emirates, in defiance of a ban
on women driving in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, the UAE celebrated its first female F-16 fighter
pilot, Major Mariam Al-Mansouri and Kuwait has Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin
Sultan Al-Qasimi holding the post of minister for foreign trade.
In contrast, Yemeni women need the permission of their husbands
or guardians to travel.
Ahram
Online examines the diverse realities of Gulf women.
Variance
in women's status
Even
though Gulf States share many socio-political characteristics — they are Muslim
majority, oil-rich monarchies or authoritarian states — the status of Gulf
women varies from one state to another.
Reem
Al-Harmi, a Qatari feminist and writer at Al-Raya, argues that the most
important determinant of women’s status is the extent of the government's
support; whether they grant women the same rights as their male counterparts,
and whether women have access to the same opportunities and chances to climb
the professional ladder, in governmental or non-governmental institutions.
According
to the Global Gender Index 2014, Kuwait is the highest placed country in the
MENA region, followed by UAE and Qatar. In fact, Kuwait has the highest
percentage of local female labour participation in the Gulf, up to 53 percent.
This is much higher than the MENA average of 21 percent, and slightly above the
world average of 51 percent, according to International Monetary Fund
statistics in 2013.
The UAE,
at rank 115th, achieved progress compared to its past performance on economic
and political participation and remains the second highest ranked country in
the MENA region.
Adding to
Harmi’s argument, Ali Al-Ahmed, the director of the Washington-based Institute
for Gulf Affairs, told Ahram Online that variations in the status of women are
linked to the policy goals of each of the ruling Gulf monarchies.
“The
status of women is used as part of regime security. The variation of women's
status is an expression of who a given government is trying to please from the
political/social fabric,” Al-Ahmed said.
Saudi
Arabia and Yemen are ranked among the lowest ranked Arab Gulf States in the
index. Yemen, which is ranked 142nd, has languished at the bottom of the index
since 2006.
Regarding
women’s status in Saudi Arabia, Rothna Begum, a women's rights researcher
focused on the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch, asserts that
the root cause of the marginalisation of Saudi women is both societal and
political.
Saudi
Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.
The ban was reinforced with a fatwa, or religious ruling, in 1991, as
Human Rights Watch reported.
In light
of the ban, Begum highlights that women are effectively rendered legal minors
in Saudi Arabia. She states that the restrictions on women’s rights in Saudi
Arabia have existed for decades and authorities enforce the guardianship system
through policies and practice.
“Under
the strict male guardianship system, ministerial policies and practices forbid
women from obtaining a passport, marrying, travelling, or accessing higher
education without the approval of a male guardian — usually a husband, father,
brother, or even a son,” Bengum elaborates.
Speaking
to Ahram Online, Marwa Shalaby, programme director for Women and Human Rights
in the Middle East at the James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice
University, attributes progress and improvements of women’s status to civil
society and strong activism.
Despite
strong women's movements in Kuwait and Bahrain, and significant improvements
undertaken by these monarchies in the education and health realms, Shalaby
argues that a considerable gender gap still exists in most Gulf monarchies.
Pseudo-empowerment?
As
oil-rich countries, Gulf countries have attempted to industrialise and
modernise society in recent years. Thus, the question arises: Does this
modernization process incorporate women's empowerment?
Ahmed
responds: “Generally, modernity does empower women, but in certain cases we see
modernity used to keep women behind.”
Begum
told Ahram Online that Saudi authorities have been keen to modernise society,
looking at new modern technology. Yet when it comes to women’s rights, there is
a lack of political will.
In 2013,
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah appointed 30 prominent Saudi women to his advisory
Shura Council. Yet, in 2014, women are denied notary positions in the Ministry
of Justice with the justification that notary licenses are within the general
judicial competency in which women are ineligible by law, Al-Hayat newspaper
reported.
Such
legal setbacks reflect on society. According to the Global Gender Gap Report
2014, Saudi Arabia is among four countries in the world with no female
ministers and the 10 lowest-performing countries on the economic participation
and opportunity sub-index.
Curbing
female activism is not restricted to Saudi Arabia. Bahraini activist Zeinab
Al-Khawaja was sentenced to three years in jail and fined around $7,950 dollars
last Thursday for insulting the Bahraini king by tearing up his photograph,
Reuters reported.
Nonetheless,
progress has been made. Through the modernisation and development process,
women have been given access to previously male dominated arenas, such as
education.
While
some argue that the culture hinders full empowerment of women, Harmi believes
that “many Gulf countries embraced modernisation without losing their identity
and culture.”
With
Qatar as an example, Harmi says that it flourished in around 10 years: the
people, women included, progressed in various ways and different areas, while
preserving the country's traditions.
She adds
that through the opening of world class universities in Qatar, women were given
the chance to get the best education without traveling abroad.
Shalaby
contends that modernisation actually helped women empower and overcome cultural
barriers. “Women in the Gulf States have embraced technology and see it as a
way to be active in the workplace, the classroom, and the public sphere as a
whole while maintaining their modesty,” she told Ahram Online.
Shalaby
adds that there has been quite a bit of evidence lately of an increase in
women's entrepreneurship and involvement in the science and technology fields.
In Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia, university enrolment rates
for women are higher than those of men, as the Gender Gap Index indicated.
“The Arab Spring has already transformed the societal fabric of
Arab societies and there is no way to stop it now. Women will continue to be
powerful agents of change, especially younger, well-educated, tech-savvy girls
and women. These new generations are determined to push for genuine reforms to
promote women's social status," Shalaby concludes.