Kuwait: Segregation at the forefront

KUWAIT: The state's segregation laws have come under fire by both Islamists and liberals with liberals calling for them to be amended or removed altogether and Islamists calling for the laws, which have been on the books for twelve years, to be fully enforced.

The Kuwaiti public remains at odds on the subject with supporters on both sides of the heated issue. "We are an Islamic state and we must segregate. There is no moral question in the matter as it is right," said Omar Abdulaziz.

Liberal MPs have proposed a law to amend the state's current laws which require gender segregation in public and private universities. MP Ali Al-Rashed, one of the three MPs who submitted the proposal, received a death threat via a telephone call on Tuesday claiming the law was contrary to local Islamic tradition.

All three MPs belong to the National Action Block party which supported Minister of Education Nouriya Al-Sabeeh in her bid to quash a no-confidence vote. Al-Sabeeh had been accused of not enforcing segregation laws.

The state's first university segregation law, which required the public system to be segregated, was passed in 1996 and implemented in 2001. The second law, which requires private universities to be segregated, was passed in 2000 and has not yet been fully implemented due to the high cost of building separate facilities for men and women.

The schools cannot afford to pay for two libraries, two computer labs, two scientific labs, two cafeterias. The cost is staggering and I worry that in implementing the law, one sex will suffer with poor facilities or a lack of facilities altogether," said student Amna Fadalah. "I have no problem with segregated schools or co-ed schools, my only issue is that the facilities for both sexes be compatible and have high quality environments," said Manal Abdullah.

"I am fully behind a change in this law which is unrealistic. You cannot expect co-ed schools to snap their fingers and build new schools with two of everything. Besides, we women and men shop at the same stores, eat at the same restaurants, and sit at the same coffee shops. If the society is not segregated, than why the schools? It's absurd!," said Um Nasser.

Forced gender segregation causes resentment and the forbidden fruit syndrome. It is better to allow co-education for those that chose it," said Khaled Muhamed. "I back public choice for education. If the public wanted segregation in the private high schools, than why do so many of us send our children to co-ed schools? It's simply supply and demand and we, the public, do not demand it," said Ahmem Bassem, the father of two high school students enrolled in co-ed schools.

Some Islamists claim gender segregation is required under Sharia law. Islamist MP Ali Al-Omer said he will soon propose a new segregation law for private schools, presumably for private high schools which are not required to segregate under the current laws.

"Segregation of the sexes is necessary, we must protect our daughters. To question this, goes against Islam," said Abu Tareq.

"I support segregation at every level of education," said mother of four Fatma Fahad who continued, "There is far too much mixing going in the private high schools and we cannot allow this kind of thing in our society."

Salah Muhamed said, "Private high schools should have been required to segregate long ago as this is what our culture dictates and what Sharia requires.

By Ahmad Al-Khaled, Kuwait Times