[4] The traditional garments of women in Bahrain include the jellabiya, a long, loose dress, which is one of the preferred clothing styles for the home.

[6] During the last thirty years or so, women in Bahrain have had opportunities to deviate from conventional female roles in society.

One of the influences to Bahraini women's point of view regarding the importance of education and fashion trends were the group of American missionaries from Brunswick, New Jersey who arrived in Bahrain during the late 1890s, as well as early expatriate female teachers from Egypt and Lebanon.

In the 1950s, the first group of Bahraini women studied in Cairo, Egypt and Beirut, Lebanon to become teachers and school principals in Bahrain.

[11] In response to the failure of women candidates, six were appointed to the Shura Council, which also includes representatives of the Kingdom's indigenous Jewish and Christian communities.

[14] When Bahrain was elected to head the United Nations General Assembly in 2006 it appointed lawyer and women's rights activist Haya bint Rashid Al Khalifa President of the United Nations General Assembly, only the third woman in history to head the world body.

[15] Female activist Ghada Jamsheer said "The government used women's rights as a decorative tool on the international level."

She referred to the reforms as "artificial and marginal" and accused the government of "hinder[ing] non-governmental women societies".