Article by- Suad Hamada (Women Gateway)

Working women in Bahrain are facing many challenges and female activists predict more hardship to encounter them after the full implementation of the Free Trade Agreements between Bahrain and the United States.

Besides accepting the second best when it comes to promotion and work privileges as a recent study reveals that only 9.9 per cent of top managerial posts in the private sector is taken by women, females have to cope and find mechanisms to deal with the tough competition the FTA will bring with its open market policies.

The FTA was put on force last year and it is expected to contribute to the economic growth of Bahrain and increase revenues of businesses, but its affects on women is still uncertain according to the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) that is dedicated to safeguard the interests of female citizens and empower them in all walks in Life.

To react to the issue, the SCW as a government organisation has assigned the Gulf Centre for Strategic Studies to conduct a study on the affects of the FTA on working women to find mechanisms to eliminate the challenges of the agreement.

The study will try to highlight the immediate, short and long term influences of the FTA and its open market policies on working women and their competencies to face the new challenges.

The study is part of the SCW’s endless efforts to promote women as powerful members in the labour force.

The study is a response to a study that was conducted last year by the SCW on working women that reveal discriminations against women in the private sector.

The study covered 313 women working in industrial, textile, construction, financial, services, insurance and tourism sectors. They are representing 2.5 per cent of total women working in private companies.

According to the SCW, the findings are expected as most women are working in services occupations and they are denied the right to be promoted to top positions in their companies.

The SCW shows concerns of the lack of knowledge about the FTA and the labour market reforms project among female employees despite their affects on them.

To overcome the findings of the study, the SCW recommended informing working women about their labour rights, especially addressing issues through different media resources and women websites.

The SCW feels that reconsidering the amount of salaries given to women and giving them wages suitable to their skills and educational degrees could help female cope with the financial obligations of their families.