Women’s Rights in Bahrain: Role of Women in the Society

Mona Almoayyed, Managing Director of Y.K. Almoayyed & Sons, talks about the difference between women and men in Bahrain in terms of social freedom.

According to Almoayyed, “If we talk about women in terms of labor and the economic side of women versus men in the workplace, I think there is a certain amount of equality there. Women and men in Bahrain are paid the same wages; there is no differentiation according to the labor law. On the other hand, for women there are lots of privileges.”

She explains how in the terms of social rules women face discrimination: “For example, there are no family laws in Bahrain. For the Sunni sector, there are family laws but there are no family laws for the Shia which means in the case of divorce between men and women, the mother does not have laws to protect her children. It’s all according to the research of the judge and the court. He goes back to the books and of course there is always no justification for women; they are always on the men’s side. They always favor the husband over the wife and in many cases the women really suffer because of that,” adds Almaoyyed.

On the other hand, Bahrain is one the most progressive societies in the Middle East when it comes to women’s rights. However, Almoayyed explains, “In my opinion, the biggest drawback is our political situation. In Bahrain we have this problem with controversy and opposition. Bahrain is more democratic than any other gulf state. We have an elected House, the Shura Council, and more than 500 societies which you don’t see in other gulf states.”