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Call to end discrimination
By MANDEEP SINGH
Published: 1st December 2008
BAHRAIN women’s rights activists yesterday backed recommendations by a UN committee, which called for further measures to eradicate discrimination.
A report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, released on Friday, was compiled by independent experts.
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Call to end discrimination
By MANDEEP SINGH
Published: 1st December 2008
BAHRAIN women’s rights activists yesterday backed recommendations by a UN committee, which called for further measures to eradicate discrimination.
A report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, released on Friday, was compiled by independent experts.
Activists say that it took into account the majority of concerns raised by the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS), the Bahrain Women’s Union, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the Coalition for Equality.
The recommendations were issued at the end of an assessment of the compliance of Bahrain with its international human rights obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Concerns
BHRS chairman Abdullah Al Durazi said that key concerns and recommendations, which human rights activists in Bahrain agree with, include the setting up of a unified family law required to end discrimination in marriage, divorce, inheritance and custody of children.
Amnesty International Bahrain wing campaigning head Fawzia Rabea said she agreed “100 per cent” with the report.
“We have asked the government repeatedly to bring out tough laws to curb domestic violence against women and punish those who are responsible,” she said.
Ms Rabea said that campaigners had also stressed the need to introduce some kind of a co-ordinated effort between the Interior, Health and Justice and Islamic Affairs ministries to come out with figures on the actual number of women who are suffering.
“We have no such figures available and that is a pity. We know there are a lot of women who suffer, but have no way of telling how many,” she said.
Ms Rabea said issuing a family law was also of great importance.
“Then there is the issue of housemaids who are always abused. We should have laws specifically to deal with them,” she said.
Ms Rabea said that she hoped the new report would further encourage the government to deal with the situation as soon as possible.
According to the report, women in Bahrain are particularly vulnerable to discrimination in family matters due to the absence of a single codified family law.
It said the committee had urged Bahrain to raise awareness of all sectors of society, in particular community leaders, religious leaders, the media and civil society on the need for such legislation.
It has also urged Bahrain to raise the minimum age of marriage of girls from 15 to 18.
The report said that urgent measures were also required to protect women from violence.
“We are concerned over the absence of laws sanctioning violence against women, in particular domestic violence,” said the committee in the report.
It called for the adoption of legislation criminalising all forms of violence, including marital rape.
The committee also called for amendments to article 535 of the penal code, which exempts perpetrators of rape from prosecution and punishment if they marry their victims.
Another recommendation was that women migrant domestic workers must be protected.
“The vulnerability and exploitation of women migrant domestic workers, who are unaware of their rights, cannot easily file complaints and seek redress in cases of abuses, and who are not protected by the labour law is cause for concern,” said the committee.
Bahrain should also expedite the adoption of the draft labour code, en-sure that it covers all mi-grant domestic workers and provide them access to legal aid, it added.
The report called for in-creased efforts to combat trafficking.
The committee said it was concerned about the persistence of trafficking of women into Bahrain for sexual exploitation.
It said that although a law on human trafficking was adopted early this year, the government was yet to put in place the measures necessary to ensure its effective implementation.
The committee called on the government to expedite the adoption of the draft nationality law to enable the transfer of citizenship to children of Bahraini women and non-citizen fathers.
mandeep@gdn.com.bh
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