The Role of Women in the GCC Countries - Essay Example

The Role of Women in the GCC Countries The Role of Women in the GCC Countries The Gulf Cooperation Council was founded in 1981 with the objective of promoting political, economic and social relationships between the six member states comprising the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. Being an Islamic region, countries in the GCC have been known to discriminate against women on the political, economic and social fronts (Doumato & Marsha, 2005). For long, the member states have been reluctant to accept discussions on the status of women, especially about their liberties and rights, as mirrored in their lack of political rights, protection against discrimination, legal rights and autonomy. However, with a globalizing economy, the impact of the GCC cannot be overlooked, since it is also a global power in the oil industry. Further, in a bid to diversify their trade platforms, the countries are individually venturing into other economic activities (Almunajjed, 2011). For example, Saudi Arabia is amomg the world leaders in the production of dates and has lately grown its steel and fertilizer manufacturing industries. Bahrain is investing heavily in the Information and Communication Technology field while Kuwait manufactures building materials and Qatar has greatly expanded its banking sector to become a key economic player in the country (CAWTAR, 2006). With such economic growth, and branching out from the core oil business, opportunities have opened up for women to be included in forefront roles of decision-making and enhancing regional development, increasing their presence in the private sector (Almunajjed, 2011). However, they are still faced by the barriers imposed by Islamic conservatism in the region, making their role in the GCC countries ambiguous and on different levels in different countries. This paper will use statistics, surveys and researches to discuss the role of women in the GCC countries, with a focus on the positive impact they have had on the region as well as the difficulties they face in their role as agents of change. Because the role of women has taken considerably long to be felt due to constraints of cultural backgrounds, the best way to discuss it would be alongside their achievements over the years, which relate to what their contributions have been. Globalization is by far the single most significant external factor that has contributed towards the rising of the status of women in the GCC countries (Abdulkhaleq, 2006). It has led to empowerment of women in the member states by granting them access to economic, social and political matters. The level of education, as well as rates of seeking to acquire education, has significantly increased among women in the countries, facilitating their access to positions of leadership (Doumato & Marsha, 2005). In some of the member countries, women are actively participating in roles of political decision making; working in institutions of education as university deans, professors and educators; working in scientific institutions as researchers; and medical, banking and business professionals. It is through the initiative of established women leaders that the region’s governments invested in education. This facilitated the enrolment of young girls into primary education, which enabled the GCC to progress towards the millennium development goals of the United Nations in primary education (UNDP, 2005). After being allowed access to higher education, most of them have taken advantage of the Gulf’s globalizing economies and started their own businesses, expanding their activities in entrepreneurship. Their achievements are imparting positive influences on the region, moving them out of homes and traditional, cultural confinements. Using education as their most powerful tool, women in the GCC have influenced and realized changes in the labor market, providing one of the most accurate measures of the region’s progress (Nayereh, 2007). An analysis of a 2010 report by a United Nations body, UNESCO, can quantify the significance of women’s role in the GCC by the achievement of literacy levels in females who enrolled in primary education. Against the set targets, achievement was recorded as percentages at 97, 87, 77, 93, 85 and 89 for Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, respectively (Almunajjed, 2011). In the same year, Bahrain had double achievement by recording literacy levels of 100 percent in females aged between 15 and 24 years, with Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE at 99, 98, 98, 97 and 97 respectively. The gender gap across the entire age continuum may still be considerable, but the participation of women is increasing significantly in labor markets in all the member countries. Over the past two decades, some members have reported two and four fold growths in the presence of women in business, with the exception of Saudi Arabia (CAWTAR, 2006). Their roles are more predominant within the public and service sector, with the private sector still reserved on employing them. Again with the exception of Saudi Arabia, other members have granted women enough legal rights stemming from Islamic law, or Sharia, enabling them to own property and manage assets both in and out of marriage. Their husbands have no right to their personal property without their consent. This has played the role of catapulting them further up the social and political strata, whereby they have the right (though not in all member states) to marriage, divorce, inherit, governance, work and education. They also retain the right to use their maiden names even in marriage, which gives them exclusive rights to make financial transactions or decisions on their own inherited wealth (CAWTAR, 2006). Through these aspects, they have played critical influencing roles as businesswomen, with UAE recording the highest number of women in business in the GCC. Through entrepreneurship, women have crafted and integrated high levels of social flexibility between their traditional domestic roles and emerging professional ambitions that cannot be quantified in monetary terms (Abdulkhaleq, 2006). Such roles as educators and mothers have driven community development by the ability to encourage and support women in the low income social class. Women have achieved this by spearheading welfare societies for children as well as poor women and adults with special needs. They have also established institutions of vocational training and capacity-building. Among the notable women who have played the role of empowering fellow women and development of their values is Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak who became the chairperson of UAE’s Family Development Foundation, through which she has empowered others to prosperity (Almunajjed, 2011). Following in her inspiration, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain have women ministers who contribute towards policies regarding the welfare of women and the family unit. They pushed for the ratification of the convention to eradicate discrimination against women launched by the United Nations. Although largely successful, Saudi Arabia was reluctant and retained most of the Sharia guidelines family relations, marriage and divorce. Studies and statistics have shown that Saudi Arabia is the single country still inclined to conservatism in the GCC (CAWTAR, 2006). In terms of employment, 2007 saw 23.5 percent and 25.4 percent of total employments going to women in Bahrain and Kuwait respectively (Nayereh, 2007). Competing with expatriates, the presence of women forced governments to gradually align cultural attitudes with a reduction on reliance on foreign labor. In return, women have slowly taken up roles of becoming dependable financial supporters of parents, families and husbands. By 2010, women in the GCC owned over 30,000 businesses, with over 10 percent owning mutual funds (Almunajjed, 2011). That was the most significant reason for the UAE to stop issuing work permits to expatriates who sought careers as human resource personnel, public relations representatives and secretaries in public organizations. Instead, the positions are reserved for Emirati females. Female ministers in Oman fronted the policy that enabled less-educated and poor women get employment as support staff in public institutions, providing them with a way out of the downtimes of financial hardships (CAWTAR, 2006). However, despite all the achievements that women have greatly contributed towards in the GCC, it is worth mentioning that Islamic conservatism remains a great barrier to their progress. Statisticians have shown that although figures are impressive in the portrayal of female representation in all significant aspects of a society, it still falls behind what can actually be achieved if religious-based discriminations are entirely eradicated. For instance, even with constitutional guarantees in place, female citizens are still up against forms of legal discrimination that researchers term as systematic (Almunajjed, 2011). In spite of women being accorded marriage rights, none of the member countries allows them similar rights of nationality and citizenship as men. This brings about an unfair consequence in their choices of partners in marriage, where men can marry foreign women who, together with their children, can acquire full citizenship status and associated benefits passed on from the men (Nayereh, 2007). On the other hand, GCC women who marry foreigners are not allowed to pass the citizenship and benefits to both the husbands and children. Children born under such marriages need to obtain special permits of residency that must be renewed annually for them to meet scholarship and employment requirements. A few member countries have facilitated the acquisition of citizenship by foreign male spouses and their sons, albeit with limitations. However, the restriction in Saudi Arabia is that such sons must first turn 18 (Nayereh, 2007). Unfortunately for daughters of foreign male spouses, the only way to acquire citizenship is by getting married to a Saudi citizen. Such barriers greatly negate the role women are playing to bring equality as agents of change in the region, forcing them to actively take up lobbying for reforms from their respective governments. Further, despite the representation in the labor front being one of the greatest achievements realized by the role of women in the GCC, labor laws are still characterized by restrictions based on gender. Women are still locked out of employment opportunities, legally, and are denied labor and pension benefits in certain careers (Almunajjed, 2011). Studies have shown that the growing globalization is what has led Islamic conservatives to continually implement counteractive laws that work against the progress of women brought about by globalization (Abdulkhaleq, 2006). This has renewed their efforts to lobby for further rights that will facilitate and advance future gender equality. They are mainly targeting an assortment of traditions and local norms that stem from an inherent patriarchal system which constrains their participation in public spheres, employment and education. Women are campaigning for modernization that reflects public enlightenment and education, all aimed at promoting a perspective that accepts them as socially equal partners with men. Those in leadership positions are advocating for cultural and social patterns to be modified and suit tolerant value interpretations (Abdulkhaleq, 2006). They are encouraging families to rear children in ways that initiate them into open cultures founded on tolerance. An advancement of their campaigns has targeted cooperation with the European Union, through which they have been lobbying for equality on social and official levels. Women are garnering the political support of policy-makers to support their role in remodeling institutional and legal structures that have either been hindering or promoting the stride towards gender equality (Abdulkhaleq, 2006). Female policy-makers are also lobbying for the support of the media to raise awareness of their status through positive portrayal. They argue that it is only through shunning the stereotyped images associated with traditional gender roles can the media help promote positively empowering statuses of women. According to the Family Development Foundation, it is only the media that has the power to address controversial issues in the society, like violence on women, and help bring them to an end (CAWTAR, 2006). In keeping up with the perception the United Nations has of them as agents of change, women are using peaceful means to lobby for improvements in legislative systems. Reforms and improvements are being sought in laws governing personal status such as divorce, marriage and inheritance, as well as the labor laws. In a bid to move away from the image of a woman as homemakers, they are also taking part in campaigns to modify educational curricula. This has already borne some fruit in a few countries, like Kuwait and Bahrain, which are now admitting women into fields like architecture, chemical and electrical engineering. Women in the GCC have been seen to pass the message that democratic governance can only be realized when both genders impact on the political agenda equally (Almunajjed, 2011). References Abdulkhaleq, A. (2006). Globalization and the Gulf. New York: Routledge. Almunajjed, M. (2011). The progression of women in GCC countries: The road to empowerment. Tripoli: CAWTAR. Center for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR). (2006). Gender and trade liberalization. Tripoli: Author. Doumato, E., & Marsha, P. (2005). Women and globalization in the Arab Middle East: Gender, economy, and society. Colorado: Lynne Reinner Publishers. Nayereh, T. (2007). The global-local intersection of feminism in Muslim societies: The cases of Iran and Azerbaijan, Social Research 69(3), 851-887. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2005). The Arab human development report: Towards the rise of women in the Arab world. Retrieved from http://www.arab-hdr.org/publications/other/ahdr/ahdr2005e.pdf Read More