Women in Qatar experience extensive legal and social discrimination under a pervasive male guardianship system. Qatar is the only remaining country in the Gulf region which continues to require male guardianship for women's travel. Women in Qatar were enfranchised at the same time as men. The labour force participation rate of Qatari women is below the world average, but significantly above the average in the Arab World; whereas the participation rate of non-Qatari female residents (who outnumber the former by more than 4 to 1) is significantly above the world average.
There is limited mixing between the sexes, and in public settings Qatari women are largely expected to wear traditional clothing, which typically consists of an abaya and shayla, both of which partially conceal their appearance. Mouza Al Malki, a psychologist, claims that gender separation is influenced more by cultural factors than religious factors. Women in Qatar must obtain permission from their male guardians to marry, to study abroad on government scholarships, to work in many government jobs, to travel abroad until certain ages, to receive some forms of reproductive health care and to act as a child's primary guardian, even when they are divorced and have legal custody. Women in Qatar are also subjected to various traditional practices, including FGM, although this has declined in recent years.
History Prior to the establishment of an urban society, Qatar was used as rangeland for nomadic tribes from the Najd and al-Hasa regions of Saudi Arabia. In Bedouin society, women were responsible for buying and selling goods on behalf of their tribe. "Bedouin women were therefore responsible for the process of buying and selling within their own tribe." Women often had to assume positions of decision-making within their tribe when men left their families for long stretches of time to participate in pearl hunting trips or to act as merchants.
They were separated from men within their own quarters in the tent or house. Education was regarded as unimportant and scarcely available for the majority of women in Bedouin tradition. On the other hand, children in urban areas were taught the Quran until the age of ten, after which the family would celebrate al khatma, the end of memorizing the Quran.
Industrial era After the country began reaping the financial benefits of oil drilling operations in the 1950s and 1960s, an increasing number of women began receiving formal education. Kuwaiti journalist Hidayat Sultan Al Salem wrote of Qatari women's role in 1968:
There was a marked increase of women in the workforce during the early seventies.
Education
When the Qatari government established the Khalid Bin El Walid Boys School in 1951, a woman named Amna Mahmoud Al-Jaidah requested that the government open another school for girls. Her request was denied due to Qatari society heavily opposing the idea of girls learning to read and write. Despite the backlash, Amna Mahmoud created her own impromptu school within her house to educate the girls who would attend. In 1953 the Qatari government formally recognized Amna Mahmoud's school, making her the first female Qatari teacher in the first Qatari school for girls.
In 1957 after many changes, Amna Mahmoud's school became known as the Banat Al Doha Primary School and more than 100 female students were attending. Prior to the school's establishment, the only form of education that existed for women was religious education. A 1980–81 report by the Ministry of Education reported that there were 70 girls' schools, with 19,356 students, an increase from 50 female students in 1955.
The first university in Qatar was opened in 1973. It provided separate faculties for both men and women. Out of the 157 initial students, 103 of them were female. The ratio of female-to-male students remained steady over the proceeding years. Sheikha Abdulla Al-Misnad became the first female president of the university in 2003. Females accounted for more than 50% of the university's personnel in 2008.Asia Pacific Infoserv (2008), p. 64 By 2012, there were almost twice as many female students enrolled in the university as there were males.
More than half of the Ministry of Education's employees are female. In 2008 it was reported that the growth rate in the number of female students had surpassed that of males in public schools. Rates of women attending private universities are also growing rapidly. At the Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, for instance, 57% of students are female. Previously male-dominated career paths such as engineering and information technology have been attracting more female participants in recent years. Roughly 40% of students of the Texas A&M University at Qatar, a university geared towards engineering, are women.
Most Qatari women view female education as important for a variety of reasons. Among the forefront of these is to protect themselves from divorce: many young Qatari women are concerned by the country's rising divorce rate, which has been increasing significantly for numerous years, and by about 70% since 2007. The earning of a degree is often perceived by women to be a method of ensuring that, in the event of a divorce, they'll be able to achieve financial self-reliance. Another reason is the growing female Qatari perception of education as a form of women's empowerment — it's viewed as an opportunity to prove their worth to society and to gain true independence for themselves.
Employment In 2001, Qatar passed the Civil Service Act and Order No. 13 of the Council of Ministers, thereby creating a legal framework protecting of women's rights in the workforce. Another law was passed in 2002 which allowed women retirement benefits as well as granting monetary benefits to widows.
According to 2023 statistics, approximately 43.5% of Qatari women and 68.4% of non-Qatari (foreign worker) women participate in the labour force, for a total of 63.5% female participation (since the latter outnumber the former by around 4 to 1). For that year, the global average was around 49%, and the average in the Arab World was around 19%. However, both Qatari and non-Qatari women are affected by a wage gap, getting paid 25 to 50 percent less than men. In addition, Qatar greatly partakes in social allowances for men which include amenities such as housing and travel allotments, that female employees are less likely to receive."Report: Qatar's Gender Wage Gap Widens Considerably over 10-year-period.", Doha News, 2013. Web. 2 November 2016.
Among the largest obstacles to employment are family obligations, a low number of job openings and inadequate proficiency in English. Societal views also negatively influenced the job opportunities for women, as certain conservative segments of the population consider it improper for women to work in the hospitality industry, as hotel workers and as actresses. Nonetheless, the majority of Qataris view female participation in the labor force as being positive.
Social life
Qatar is an Islamic country with the Salafi version of Sunni Islam as the state-sponsored brand of Islam in the country, making Qatar one of the two Salafi states in the Muslim world, along with Saudi Arabia.
For social gatherings, women are generally never brought to social events except for western-style gatherings or when the attendees are composed of close relatives. Public schools for girls are separate from public schools for boys. In terms of employment opportunities, women are generally employed in government positions, although women are underrepresented in high-level government positions, with only four women being appointed ministers throughout Qatar's history.
Travel It has been reported that Qatar is the last remaining Gulf Cooperation Council country that restricts travel for local Qatari women. By law, women under the age of 25 are not allowed to travel without the permission of a male guardian. Human Rights Watch has reported that in 2020 the authorities appeared to have further restricted women's travel, apparently in response to cases of women trying to run away from Qatar. According to the report, officials started stopping women in the airport traveling without a male relative, both under and over 25, and asking them to call their male guardians to prove that they were not "escaping".
Access to hotels, venues, and events in Qatar Access to certain venues in Qatar is banned or restricted for Qatari women. Qatari couples must present a marriage certificate before checking into a hotel room, and Qatari women under the age of 30 cannot book a hotel room without a male guardian's permission. Such laws are exclusively imposed on Qatari nationals, while foreign women and couples do not need to abide by them. Music events that serve alcohol sometimes ban women wearing traditional Islamic dress from accessing the venue.
Politics Women in Qatar vote in municipal elections, and may run for public office. Qatar enfranchised women at the same time as men, in connection with the 1999 elections for a Central Municipal Council."In Bahrain, Women Run, Women Vote, Women Lose" New York Times These elections—the first ever in Qatar—were deliberately held on 8 March 1999, International Women’s Day. It was the first GCC country to enfranchise its population in municipal elections.
In 1998, the Women's Affairs Committee was founded as a branch of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs in order to manage the welfare of Qatari women. As well as seeking to uphold women's rights, the committee is to integrate women into society by providing economic assistance and employment opportunities.
Government ministers
Qatar appointed its first female cabinet minister in 2003, when Sheikha Ahmed al-Mahmoud was named as Minister of Education. In 2008, Ghalia bint Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani was made Minister of Public Health. The third woman government minister was Hessa al-Jaber, who was designated as head of the Ministry of Communication and Technology. Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari became the fourth female cabinet member in 2016 when she was made Minister of Public Health.
Consultative Assembly Members of the Consultative Assembly of Qatar (Majlis ash-Shura) are designated by the Emir of Qatar. In November 2017, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani appointed four women to the 45-member council, marking the first time women have taken part in the council.
Municipal elections The Central Municipal Council elections, inaugurated in 1999, are the only free elections to be held in the country. Twenty-nine constituencies are contested. Both sexes are allowed to vote. In the inaugural 1999 edition, candidate Mouza Al Malki became the first female candidate in the GCC to contest a municipal election. Sheikha Yousuf Hasan Al Jufairi became the first female to hold a municipal position when she won the Central Municipal Council (CMC) elections for the Old Airport constituency in 2003. Two women were simultaneously elected to the CMC for the first time in 2015. Only 5 female candidates ran in the election. This invigorated discussion on the possible establishment of a quota for female candidates. On 13 June 2023, Qatar announced candidacy of 4 women for the Central Municipal Council elections, according to a final list of candidates released by the Ministry of Interior. Along with the announcement, Maryam bint Abdullah al-Attiyah, the chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee, emphasized the upcoming CMC elections for the advancement of infrastructure as well as for allowing all people to have their voices heard in order to influence the future of Qatar's society. Diplomacy Alya bint Ahmed Al Thani became the first female ambassador in 2013 when she was appointed as the Permanent Representative to the UN. Lolwah Al-Khater is the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar since 2017.
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