Women's rights in Bahrain

Member State of the Arab League Women face widespread discrimination within Bahraini society and the country's political institutions.

The extension of equal political rights has been accompanied by a conscious drive to promote women to positions of authority within government.

Sheikha Haya is a leading Bahraini lawyer and women's rights advocate who will take over the post at a time of change for the world body.

Ghada Jamsheer, the most prominent women's rights activist in Bahrain[3] has called the government's reforms "artificial and marginal".

[4]Bahrain's move was widely considered to have encouraged women's rights activists in the rest of the Persian Gulf to step up demands for equality.

[5] However, changing the law has been resisted by the leading Shia Islamist party, Al Wefaq, resulting in a major political showdown with women's rights activists.

[6] Al Wefaq argued that neither Chamber of Deputies elected MPs nor the government have the authority to change the law because these institutions could 'misinterpret the word of God'.

On the same day, an alliance of women's rights organisations held a smaller rally calling for the unified law, which attracted 500 supporters.