Kuwait City, March 08: Women in Kuwait complained on Monday of gender discrimination in employment and other sectors despite making key strides in politics after four females were elected to parliament.
Marking International Women’s Day at a day-long symposium, women’s rights’ activists and MPs said women in this oil-rich Gulf state are still barred from becoming judges and are deprived of promotion to senior posts.
“I have been working as a lawyer for the past 32 years but still I cannot become a judge,” activist Salwa al-Ajmi told the symposium.
“It is shameful that the government has accepted and signed international treaties banning discrimination against women and still bars females from becoming judges,” Ajmi said.
A woman activist last month filed a lawsuit after her application to become a member of the public prosecution was rejected because of her sex.
The conservative Muslim state adopts a strict interpretation of Islamic laws by some religious scholars who say women are forbidden to become judges.
Ajmi, however, said that other Arab states in the Gulf region such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have appointed female judges.
A senior civil service commission official said that Kuwaiti women are discriminated against when it comes to promotion to senior posts in the government.
“Only 17 women occupy senior positions in government ministries compared to 252 men,” said Nahla bin Naji, who defined senior posts as under-secretaries — the top position in the ministries — and assistant under-secretaries.
“I really don’t know the reason for this, especially that we have a large number of highly qualified women,” Naji said.
Based on the latest available official data as of last June 30, Kuwaiti women employees accounted for 44.9 percent of the total national workforce. They made up 44.1 percent of Kuwaitis employed in government.
“Leading positions are distributed in accordance with political considerations and women are kept away from such considerations,” activist Oroob al-Refai said.
There is only one female minister in the 16-member Kuwaiti cabinet.
Kuwaiti women made history in last May when four women were elected to parliament for the first time, four years after they were granted full political rights, including the right to vote.
MP Rula Dashti told the symposium she plans to submit a bill to ensure gender equality in promotions to senior posts.
Kuwaiti women are also facing discrimination under the emirate’s nationality law. They are not allowed to pass on Kuwaiti citizenship to their children or foreign husbands, unlike Kuwaiti men.
They also do not have the same housing privileges as men and do not receive allowances for their children.
Parliament is to debate several draft laws stipulating better social and civil rights for women.
Last year, Kuwait’s constitutional court issued two milestone verdicts in favour of women.
Women were allowed to obtain passports without the prior approval of male guardians, and the court confirmed two women MPs as deputies after their election was challenged for not wearing the “hijab” headscarf.
—Agencies