(Women Gateway)
The Coalition of Equality with Reserves at the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) called upon the government to left its reservations on the Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discriminations against Women (CEDAW) that was ratified by the Kingdom in 2002.
Bahrain joined the agreement with reservations of some articles that according to the government clashing with the Islamic Principles. Bahrain is still to ratify CEDAW’s additional protocol.
In relation with the government’s deliberation of its commitments to articles of CEDAW at the 42nd session of the CEDAW panel in Geneva, the BHRS’s drafted a shadow report highlighted situations of women empowerment in Bahrain.
The report begins with introduction about the gender equality calling of the constitution. It states that under the Constitution of Bahrain (article 37), international conventions are to be integrated into national Bahraini law and thus made legally binding. However, the numerous reservations which the Bahraini government entered on ratification of CEDAW are a clear indication of the state's reluctance to amend national laws or to adopt new laws in conformity with the Convention. Many existing laws in Bahrain, governing diverse aspects of women's lives, are a long way from compliance with the Convention.
The repot shows that the government of Bahrain, like many Arab governments, justifies the reservations on the grounds that those provisions of CEDAW conflict with Islamic Sharia law. Yet, these governments make use of such justification without appropriately studying the nature of Islamic law, which has the flexibility to change and be reformed in accordance with the contemporary realities and needs.
The report highlights the discriminated nationality law as it prohibits the automatic acquisition of Bahraini citizenship to children of Bahraini women and foreign fathers. Article 4 of the Law states that children are considered Bahraini nationals, whether or not they were born inside Bahrain, if their fathers are Bahraini citizens at the time of birth. Other provisions indicate that a child is also considered a Bahraini national on the condition that the father was born in Bahrain, he can prove that Bahrain is his primary location of residence, and he does not carry another nationality. Children of Bahraini women can only be granted Bahraini citizenship if the father is unknown or if paternal lineage has not been legally confirmed. These provisions violate Article 9 (2) of CEDAW, to which Bahrain has entered a reservation.
Additionally, although a non-Bahraini woman married to a Bahraini man has the right to Bahraini citizenship, the opposite does not hold true: a foreign man married to a Bahraini woman is ineligible for Bahraini citizenship.
The report also mentions that the Bahraini Council of Representatives rejected draft legislation giving Bahraini women the right to sponsor their foreign husbands under the "Kafil" system, a move which would effectively grant them the right to permanent residence in Bahrain. Furthermore Bahraini Passport Law No.11 of 1975 discriminates against women in terms of acquiring passports. Article 13 of the Law reads "It is prohibited to grant independent passports to a married woman without her husband's permission and it is prohibited to grant independent passports to minors without the approval of their legal guardians". This law is a direct infringement to the Bahraini constitution which affirms the principle of equality between men and women. Furthermore it diminishes the status of women as independent adults, by granting them only the same rights as minors. This provision violates Article 15(4) of CEDAW, to which Bahrain has entered a reservation.
The reports highlights discriminations in the penal code law as article 353 of the Penal Code, concerning the crime of rape, stipulates that no penalty will be inflicted on the man who has sexual intercourse with a woman against her will, providing he then marries her. This provision effectively allows criminals to escape punishment and does not address the physical and psychological condition of the victim. It also highlight bias in other legislations such as article 334 of the Criminal Procedure Code states that persons who surprise their spouse in an act of adultery will not be imprisoned if they then murder or severely assault the spouse. This also extends to persons who surprise their relatives or sisters in the act of adultery.
According to the report, lawyers have observed that judges consistently interpret this law in favor of men, in cases of both husbands and brothers primarily due to the employment of the term "sister" and not a gender neutral term. Although honor crimes are rare in Bahrain such laws stipulating reduced sentences for murder justify violence against women in a manner similar to the honor crimes which arise in other Arab countries.
In case of accommodation, the report finds also discrimination in the Bahraini Housing Law does as it doesn’t grant women the same rights as men to housing services provided by the Ministry of Housing, in particular with regards to obtaining a housing unit and receiving loans to purchase housing. According to Ministerial Decree No.12 of 2004, working women, with stable incomes, supporting a family which does not own any real estate, have the right to housing services. Divorced women with custody of their children are also eligible for these services. However, in the case of married women who are unemployed, the housing unit is registered only under the husband's name. These provisions violate Articles 13 and 16(h) of CEDAW. Bahrain has entered a reservation to Article 16.
The report highlights that married men working in public sector receive more social aid than single men and women. As a result of the last amendment made to the Civil Service Law, social aid is now granted to women working in the public sector whose husbands also work in the public sector. Previously only husbands were eligible for this aid if both husband and wife are working in the public sector. Nevertheless, these women are still entitled to aid equal to single men and women.
The law indicates that the absence of Personal Status and Family Laws in Bahrain is the source of much suffering for women. Cases concerning issues such as marriage, divorce, alimony and child custody are often transferred to Islamic Sharia courts.
The absence of legislation in these matters has the result that individual judges have the autonomy to pass rulings that are informed by his personal opinion on the matter. This results in many different and contradictory rulings, in similar cases, depending upon the judge's own position towards women. Women's rights organizations and the Women's Union are engaged in an ongoing struggle for the adoption of fair legislation on Personal Status and Family Law. It is worth noting that the Supreme Council for Women had inaugurated a promotional and awareness raising around passing a Personal Law but backed down after Islamic scholars expressed their rejection of the issue. Thus the role of the Council is limited to encouraging partial solutions, such as the creation of an alimony fund or conveying the need to reach a quick ruling in personal cases taken to Sharia courts before which proceedings might otherwise last several years.
The report highlights that awareness has been growing in Bahrain about the suffering of many women from domestic violence. However, the Parliament has yet to pass a bill condemning domestic violence, presented by the government. In addition the draft legislation was presented to relevant civil society organizations for their comments and suggestions for modification, where they recommended to crimanalise domestic violence.
Women's rights organizations are currently working on three trajectories: pushing for legislation to be passed, raising awareness among women about the nature and forms of domestic violence and how to avoid it, and extending assistance to victims of domestic violence.
The report continues by highlighting that there is no law condemning all forms of discrimination including discrimination against women. Moreover, laws in force such as the Penal Code, Civil Service Law and Labour law in the private Sector do not prohibit discrimination against women whether in public life or in the work place.
The Constitution of Bahrain explicitly does not differentiate between men and women in terms of political rights as stated in Article 1(e): "Citizens, both men and women, are entitled to participate in public affairs and may enjoy political rights, including the right to vote and to stand for elections, in accordance with this Constitution and the conditions and principles laid down by law. No citizen can be deprived of the right to vote or to nominate oneself for elections except by law."
Several women have participated in municipal and parliamentary elections, yet only one of them was elected by default.
Various women's rights organizations and the Bahraini Women's Union have lobbied for the implementation of a "quota" system to ensure the participation of women in political affairs, in accordance with CEDAW (Article 7). However, this suggestion was rejected by the Supreme Council for Women, a state body, on the grounds that the quota system is unconstitutional.
The report highlights difficulties in obtaining statistics on the number of women domestic workers in Bahrain. The Supreme Council for Women estimates that there are 21,890 domestic workers, while other sources estimate there to be approximately 62,000 . These women are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses, since they are not covered by the Labour Law. Domestic workers suffer from long working hours, heavy workloads, irregular payment of their salaries, meager salaries and the sponsorship system. Many are victims of recruitment offices in their country of origin as well as in Bahrain. Newspapers frequently publish cases of domestic workers who suffer mistreatment, physical abuse and rape. Criminal courts are currently considering two cases of assassination of domestic helpers. In addition terrible living conditions have led some domestic workers to commit suicide. The Ministry of Labour and concerned embassies do not have mechanisms for inspection and monitoring of the conditions of domestic workers. The difficulty of entering private houses without prior permission of their owners makes it difficult to inspect their living conditions. Domestic workers can in theory register complaints before the national courts. However, long court proceedings, combined with the inflexibility of sponsors, frequently lead workers to abandon their claims in return for the permission to fly back home.
The report mentions that in 2007 the Ministry of Social Development established a shelter for abused women but services offered to domestic helpers remain inadequate. Organisations such as BHRS assist domestic workers in cases of disputes with sponsors and abuse. But these organisations lack the necessary capacity (human and financial resources) to raise public awareness ion the necessity of fairly treating domestic workers and proactively protecting them. The Foreign Workers Protection Society is the only organisation specialised in protecting migrant workers. It plays a role in providing victims of abuse with shelters.
The repot acknowledge how hard to find data and statistics regarding trafficking and prostitution, especially in relation to those who run networks. Women from Asian, Eastern European, Arab and African countries are brought to Bahrain to work in the entertainment industry. Some are initially brought as workers in hotels, restaurants and cafés or as sales clerks; and then forced into prostitution or to entertain customers in hotels and bars. In addition, there are networks headed by foreigners who encourage their fellow nationals to run away from their sponsors and encourage them to prostitute themselves.
National laws criminalise prostitution and penalise those who engage in it, encourage it or manage it. Prostitutes are usually imprisoned before being deported and some instigators may be charged; however, there have been few cases against hotel-, restaurant- owners that engage in prostitution. In a case believed to be related to human trafficking, an Arab woman hotel employee committed suicide on November 29, 2007. Sources at the Ministry of Information said that tourism sector inspectors referred some hotels and furnished apartments to the public prosecution for appropriate measures after finding them guilty of violation laws and public ethics. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held several workshops on human trafficking and engaged in discussions with international ant-human Trafficking organisations to limit the phenomenon. A national committee was established for this purpose and an anti trafficking in persons law was passed on 8th of January 2008. BHRS has organised a series of workshops on human trafficking. Many complaints were received concerning sponsors forcing workers to engage in prostitution. Many women currently held in prison are believed to be victims of trafficking in persons. BHRS has tried on several occasions to obtain access to the women’s prison in order to assess the situation but was not granted a permit by the Ministry of Interior.
The report concluded with calling for amending legislation and adopting new laws to ensure that women's rights as set out in international law are guaranteed, is a matter of effective political will to do so at the highest levels. It also requires an increase of powerful awareness campaigns as well as support and advocacy from influential organizations to promote fair laws in accordance to the principles of CEDAW. It is essential that all Arab governments, including the government of Bahrain, remove all reservations to CEDAW, ratify the optional protocol of CEDAW, reform existing laws to eliminate provisions which discriminate against women, adopt laws to protect women from discrimination and violence.