Bahrain: Mothers fighting for justice

By BASMA MOHAMMED, Posted on » Wednesday, April 08, 2009


THREE Bahraini mothers took their fight for justice to the gates of parliament yesterday, as MPs gathered inside the building for their weekly meeting.

They were hoping to persuade MPs to pass a much-awaited Family Law, saying they were fed up with women suffering at the hands of the Sharia courts.

Mother-of-four Amal Juma Abdulla led the hour-and-a-half protest and claimed women were crying out for a Family Law, which would put down in writing how courts should handle domestic disputes.

Sharia judges issue verdicts in divorce cases, child custody battles and inheritance disputes, based on their interpretation of Islamic law.

However, women's rights campaigners have claimed for years that judges often discriminate against women.

"We are demonstrating to call on MPs to find a Family Law for the Jaffari court (which handles domestic cases of the Shi'ite community)," said Ms Abdulla.

"They are discussing the Family Law for the Sunni court, but we are reminding them that we are suffering as well."

The demonstration was organised to vent frustration at MPs for failing to come up with a Family Law to protect women.

However, some clerics are said to oppose the move due to fears it could loosen their grip on the community.

"Some MPs are against this law," claimed Ms Abdulla.

"They should discuss women's problems - not only men's."

Disputes

It was her second protest in a week, having demonstrated outside the Justice Ministry with three of her children on March 31.

The GDN reported at the time that her divorce proceedings had apparently been cancelled after three years by the Sharia court, because she refused to accept child support of BD100 a month from her estranged husband.

She is still legally married to him because she rejected the final settlement, which would have also seen her pay him a one-off BD500.

She is also embroiled in a court dispute with her husband over ownership of their house, which is in her name and was given to them after they were forced to sleep rough because their old home became dangerously dilapidated.

The 33-year-old housewife was joined at yesterday's protest by Zahra Sabah Nasser Hassan and Fadheela Salman.

They held up signs that said: "Sorry MPs, but we are women suffering from injustice. Is our suffering forever?" and "We are abandoned women asking for a law that can protect us."

Ms Salman was there to extend support, but Ms Hassan appeared in the GDN in February after the Crown Prince's Court answered her call for a new home.

It offered her a new house after the Sharia court evicted her from the home she shared with her ex-husband.

The mother-of-two fought for child support and a housing allowance from her ex-husband between 2004 and 2008, but the Sharia court evicted her after ordering her ex-husband to pay her BD70 a month for housing.