MANAMA - Five issues challenging gender equality in Bahrain will be raised in a report to be reviewed at the 42nd session of the Panel of the Convention of Elimination of Discriminations Against Women (CEDAW) to take place in November.
The report was drafted by 21 women organisations that demanded the withdrawal of all the reservations on CEDAW and ratifying the Optional Protocol.
The absence of family law, violence against women, nationality law, political participation, domestic workers and human trafficking are the five issues need to be solved for better empowerment of Bahraini women, according to the report.
It highlighted that despite the demand of Bahraini women organisations and other NGOs to issue a family law since 1982, such law has not been issued yet.
The absence of the law has created legislative gap because of the different and contradicting interpretations of Shariah by the Sunni and Shia judges.
The absence of such law is considered great discrimination against Bahraini women and violation of her human rights in accessing justice, assurance and security.
The report demands the introduction of anti-abuse law to protect women from all types of violence, impose stronger punishment for rape crimes and educate the concerned authorities on how to deal with violence cases and construct a shelter for violently abused women.
The report also demands immediate amendments to be carried out to the outdated nationality law to give equal citizenship rights to female and male Bahrainis. Women, who are married to non Bahrainis, are deprived from giving their nationality to their children.
These children are abandoned all their citizenship rights, of which healthcare, land ownership, political participation, high education and employment. The situation gets worse when the women get divorced or abandoned or when the husbands expire.
The report reveals that the percentage of Bahraini women in political participation is almost negligible.
-- Khaleej Times
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment