COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONSIDERS REPORT OF BAHRAIN
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has considered the combined initial and second periodic reports of Bahrain on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Shaikha Mariam bint Hassan Al Khalifa, Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Women of Bahrain, introducing the report, emphasized that, since the accession of Bahrain to the Convention, many efforts had been exerted to put it into practice. The Supreme Council for Women, presided by Her Highness Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the wife of the King, was considered a meeting point between official institutions and bodies as executive authorities and civil society, and played an effective role in that regard, in order to institutionalize and streamline achievements. It had prepared a strategy for the advancement of women, in cooperation with civil society institutions. The strategy had been approved by the King, and had been provided to the official institutions and bodies to be incorporated in their development plans and programmes to complete the integration of women's requirements and to achieve equality of opportunities.
Highlighting remaining challenges, Ms. Al Khalifa identified the absence of a family law, legislative and executive measures to face the problem of violence against women, and the problem of the children of Bahraini women married to foreigners as among the top of the list. National measures had been taken to minimize those problems, including the amendment of the procedural law to give urgency to family lawsuits and the amendment of the marriage contract to ensure the inclusion of conditions for the regulation of matters of marriage.
Committee Experts asked questions and raised a number of issues, including the many reservations Bahrain had taken to the Convention; training programmes on the Convention for the judiciary; review and amendment of discriminatory legislation; the lack of family law; measures to promote equal responsibility for childrearing; concern for migrant domestic workers and for kindergarten employees, who were almost exclusively women and had no labour rights or social benefits; and measures to combat trafficking and to provide rehabilitation for victims. An Expert was particularly concerned about a toleration of gender stereotypes, including the fact that, at the Bahraini Training Institute, most of the training programmes offered were restricted to males including chemistry, electricity, electronics and mechanics courses. In the legal sphere there were similar stereotypes, such as a provision that if the rapist married the victim no crime was committed.
In concluding remarks, Ms. Al Khalifa thanked the Committee for the constructive dialogue. That dialogue would be continued and pursued by disseminating the results of the meeting and in following up on recommendations, which would be the subject of great and careful study in Bahrain.
In some preliminary concluding observations, Committee Chairperson Dubravka Šimonović said that more visibility was needed for the Convention at the national level and more implementation. Bahrain should proceed in the direction it was already starting on, such as removal of discriminatory legislation and withdrawal of reservations, in particular a promise to withdraw reservations to article 9 (equality with regard to nationality) and to proceed with consideration of withdrawing its other reservations. Other areas for urgent action were the draft family law and a law on domestic violence.
The delegation from Bahrain included the Permanent Representative of Bahrain to the United Nations Offices at Geneva and Vienna, Abdulla Abdullatif Abdulla, and staff of the Permanent Mission; as well as over two dozen representatives from the following bodies: the Supreme Council for Women; the Constitutional Court; the Shura Council; the Council of Representatives; the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs; the Ministry of Social Development; the Directorate of Legal Affairs; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Education; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of the Interior; the Ministry of Labour; the Women's Police; the Ministry of Information; the University of Bahrain; and the Lawyer's Association of Bahrain. As one of the 185 States parties to the Convention, Bahrain is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.
When the Committee reconvenes on Friday, 31 October at 10 a.m. it will consider the seventh periodic report of El Salvador (CEDAW/C/SLV/7), in chamber A; and will review the combined second to fifth periodic reports of Madagascar (CEDAW/C/MDG/5), in chamber B.
Report of Bahrain
The number of female members appointed by royal decree to the 40-member Consultative Council rose from six in 2002 to 11 in 2006, says the combined initial and second periodic reports of Bahrain (CEDAW/C/BHR/2 and Add.1). The Consultative Council and the Council of Representatives are jointly responsible for legislating. The Council of Representatives also comprises 40 members, elected in direct, secret, general elections. Bahraini women participated effectively in the first elections held after the Constitution was amended. Eight women ran for the Council of Representatives, with none winning a seat on the Council. In the second parliamentary elections, held in 2006, a Bahraini woman won a seat unopposed. The Council of Representatives alone discharges a political/oversight function in addition to legislating. Bahraini women have also worked throughout the government, holding key positions therein. The Minister of Health and Minister of Social Development were women but after the ministerial reshuffle, there is currently only one woman minister. The current president of the University of Bahrain is a woman, and women hold a number of key posts in the executive branch, serving as undersecretaries, deputy ministers, and assistant directors-general.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, there were a total of 957 violent crimes reported against women female children in 2005, and 981 such crimes in 2006, including cases of physical assault, rape, indecent assault, violation of honour (sodomy) and insult. Bahraini legislation does not criminalize violence against women per se. Such crimes are covered by a section on crimes of assault against persons in the Penal Code. These crimes, which include crimes of physical assault, violation of honour, and rape, are punishable by death, which is an important deterrent to violence against women. The Supreme Council for Women has established a centre to receive and act on women's complaints, with offices in Bahrain's five governorates, to monitor cases of violence against women, recommend solutions and alternatives in family violence cases, and follow up. The centre operates a telephone hotline to receive and appropriately handle women's complaints. The centre also helps women obtain free legal assistance. The Council has published a guide for women on the legal procedures followed before the Shariah courts to help women, especially in cases involving violence. A shelter has also been established for female family violence victims. In related developments, a judicial Institute was established to train and qualify judges before they assume their posts. This has had a positive impact on judges' treatment of cases involving female family violence victims. The Ministry of Interior has sought to increase the number of female police officers qualified to handle cases involving female family violence victims.
Introduction of Report
SHAIKHA MARIAM BINT HASSAN AL KHALIFA, Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Women of Bahrain, introducing the report, said Bahraini society was an open society in which there was no concept of inferiority or superiority based on race, sex or religion, since the principles of the Islamic faith were based on the idea of equality, the rejection of discrimination and acceptance of others. In such a society, for ages, women had shared with men in the conservation, development and advancement of society. Women had played a prominent role in educational development and had been the engine behind the establishment of official girls schools in Bahrain starting in 1928. Bahraini women topped all ranks of honour in the field of education and employment.
The text of the Constitution of 1973 confirmed that all citizens were equal in rights and duties, Ms. Al Khalifa highlighted. That was followed by the issuance of the National Action Charter in 2001 – tantamount to the King's reform and modernization project, which was adopted by constitutional amendment in 2002 – which stressed clearly and unambiguously that citizen meant both men and women.
Since the accession of Bahrain to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, many efforts had been exerted to put the Convention into practice, particularly with regard to the elimination of improper practices, Ms. Al Khalifa said. In particular, efforts had been undertaken towards the fruitful cooperation between all State institutions and bodies, civil society and the Supreme Council for Women. The Supreme Council for Women, presided by Her Highness Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the wife of the King, was considered a meeting point between these official institutions and bodies as executive authorities and civil society. The Supreme Council played an effective role in that regard, in order to institutionalize and streamline the achievements. The Council had prepared a strategy for the advancement of women, in cooperation with civil society institutions. The strategy had been approved by the King, and had been provided to the official institutions and bodies to be incorporated in their development plans and programmes to complete the integration of women's requirements and to achieve equality of opportunities.
The national plan's mission was to support women, to raise their awareness of their rights and to qualify them professionally and scientifically. For the effective implementation of the action plan, cooperation protocols had been initiated, including a cooperation protocol between the Supreme Council for Women, the Government and civil society institutions to reflect the partnership required to activate the implementation of the plan. There was also cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, and the State budget for 2009-2010 clearly reflected requirements of the national plan to implement the strategy for the advancement of Bahraini women. In addition, there was a cooperation protocol between the Supreme Council for Women and the Women's Union and cooperation programmes with societies and women's committees, Ms. Al Khalifa noted.
Ms. Al Khalifa highlighted the creation of the Award for the Empowerment of Bahraini Women by Her Highness Shaikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa to encourage the ministries, governmental and private institutions to support and empower Bahraini women and to strengthen their role and presence in all ministries and private institutions. The recent appointments of women to the posts of the Ambassador of Bahrain to the United States and as Adviser to the Secretary General of the Arab League were more gains achieved for Bahraini women that should be added to those mentioned in the report.
To implement Bahrain's obligations to the Millennium Development Goals, the Supreme Council for Women, under the patronage of the King, organized the National Conference on Gender Mainstreaming in Development in June 2008. The Conference aimed to identify the obstacles faced and to find solutions to them. Consultative meetings organized by the Council with women's associations and Committees in various international and regional Arab women's occasions, were also considered good opportunities to exchange views and dialogue within the framework of the empowerment of women. Those included the 4 March 2008 meeting in which the two reports to CEDAW had been reviewed in order to receive comments and views of those institutions to be added in a supplementary report to the Committee.
The absence of a family law, the urgency to work on finding legislative and executive measures to face the problem of violence against women and the problem of the children of Bahraini women married to foreigners were among the top of the list of difficulties to be overcome, Ms. Al Khalifa noted. National measures had been taken to minimize those problems, including the amendment of the procedural law to give urgency to family lawsuits; the amendment of the Evidence Act to facilitate evidence procedures for the participation of women in household spending; the amendment of the marriage contract to ensure the inclusion of conditions for the regulation of matters of marriage; and the issuance of marriage officials regulations to ensure that the marriage contract was signed in accordance with the conditions stipulated by law and safeguarded and guaranteed the rights of women; and establishment of a minimum age for marriage for both parties despite the fact that early marriages were rare in Bahrain. In addition, Bahraini citizenship had been granted to a number of Bahraini women married to foreigners through the powers of the King and the formation of a joint Committee between the Supreme Council for Women and stakeholders to consider the various aspects of the nationality issue. A resolution of 2004 also ensured the right of Bahraini women to the use of housing services and an alimony fund was in place.
Finally, Ms. Khalifa drew attention to Bahrain's ratification of a number of related international conventions in the field of human rights, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and agreements with the International Labour Organization.
Questions by Experts
Among issues raised by Experts were whether Bahrain was now prepared to revisit the many reservations it had taken to the Convention on its accession, which had a direct impact on the ability of women to enjoy their rights. Was Bahrain considering withdrawing any of these reservations? Also, what was the status of the Convention in domestic law, in particular what would happen in a case in which the Convention conflicted with domestic law and had any such cases arisen?
An Expert recommended that training programmes be designed on the Convention specifically for the judiciary and law enforcement officials, because there had been specific complaints of a lack of awareness of women's rights by those functionaries.
An Expert wondered whether a review and amendment of current discriminatory legislation was taking place. Another concern was the lack of family law in Bahrain. Each judge was able to interpret Islamic law in this area at their own discretion, and there was no coordination or guarantee for women's rights under this system.
Noting that the Constitution guaranteed equality for women "reconciling the duties of women towards the family with their work in society, and their equality with men in political, social, cultural, and economic spheres", an Expert asked if a similar qualification on "reconciling duties towards the family" was made for men's equality. She also reminded Bahrain that the Convention provided for equality regarding responsibilities and rights in the family for men and women, including equal share of the work of childrearing.
Response by Delegation
On reservations, including those to Article 2 of the Convention (“States Parties ... condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, and agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women”), which was at the Convention's very heart, Bahrain's reservation did not in any way touch on issues of equality or discrimination, the delegation underscored. The purpose of the reservation went solely to the issues of marriage, to exclude the position of women within the family from absolute equality (whereas Shariah law could give women greater rights in that sphere); and the issue of adoption, a principle that was rejected by Islamic law.
The reservation on Article 9, paragraph 2 (“States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children”) was being reviewed and would be withdrawn, the delegation said. As for the reservation to Article 15 (“States Parties shall accord to men and women the same rights with regard to the law relating to the movement of persons and the freedom to choose their residence and domicile”) the delegation stressed that there were not actually any restrictions on women's free movement throughout the Kingdom.
There had been no actual cases of conflict between the Convention and national laws. However, in a famous ruling a court had applied the provisions of the Convention, the first time the Convention had been cited in a court case in the Arab world. That was a case of positive discrimination.
Once ratified the Convention became part of the national law. Anyone who considered a domestic law ran counter to the Constitution could challenge it in the Constitutional Court. However, that could not be done in the case of international treaties. Therefore international treaties were implicitly of a higher status than national law. In case of a conflict between the Convention and national law, the Convention's provisions would prevail.
Concerning the family law, the delegation said that in cases of divorce, women had the first right of custody over their children. The absence of the family law was one of the challenges faced, as had been said in the presentation. There were of course rules and norms in this area, but they were not codified. Every effort had been made by the Government to codify these laws, including efforts by the Supreme Council for Women since the 1980s, and it was hoped that a code of family law would be adopted in the near future.
On training for judicial officials, the delegation said trainings had been organized for judges, and information courses were held on human rights in general and on the equality between the genders more specifically, as set out in the Convention. The information programmes had been posted on the Ministry of Justice's website. A Code of Conduct for judges had been promulgated in Bahrain, which contained many policies that incorporated the concept equality for men and women.
Acceding to the Optional Protocol to the Convention was something that Bahrain was open to, the delegation said, noting that discussion groups had been organized to consider the issue.
Questions by Experts
Among further questions and issues raised by Experts was a recommendation that the report of Bahrain be adopted by Parliament, which would give it a higher profile.
There was a concern about certain groups of women that appeared to be excluded from certain rights. Migrant domestic workers were in a very vulnerable situation with no labour rights and were subject to abuse. Kindergarten employees, who were almost exclusively women, also had no labour rights or social security benefits, an Expert said. Moreover, despite a formal recognition of the importance of collaboration between the Government and NGOs in favour of women, reportedly, funds had been cut for women's non-governmental organizations.
On the strategy or national action plan for the advancement of women, had there been any specific targets set, for example, with regard to women's participation in Government, and had there been any assessment of goals achieved?
Response by Delegation
On migrant workers, the new labour code, currently before the National Council, did in fact establish equality between local workers and migrant workers, the delegation said. Bahrain was also a party to International Labour Organization Convention No. 111, on discrimination in employment, which guaranteed equal rights to local and migrant workers. This new labour code also extended to domestic workers benefits, such as annual leave. As for kindergarten-workers, the Ministry of Labour was currently reviewing the situation of those workers with a view to ensuring their adequate compensation and social benefits.
The Supreme Council for Women had carried out a survey to review legislation, administrative procedures, and policies on women, the delegation said. As a result of the survey, enhancements were needed for women in the areas of family and health.
In terms of the foundation for the Council, it had been established by the King, and all of its recommendations were addressed to him, the delegation said. Among legislation that had been amended was the nationality law. A husband no longer had to authorize his wife before she could receive a passport. Another example was a revision of the social security laws to provide equal benefits to men and women.
As for executive decisions, the most important was the decision of the Minister of Finance making it mandatory for all State budgets to reflect the requirement for the integration of equality for women. That was a first in the Arab States, the delegation underlined.
Procedural measures taken for the advancement of women to achieve full equality between men and women included the necessary provisions for widows; revision of nationality laws; and an encouragement to institutions to increase the number of women in their decision-making bodies. There are also programmes for the empowerment of women, under the Supreme Council for Women.
Question by Experts
An Expert asked whether there were any temporary special measures to ensure the advancement of women in certain fields, as provided for in the Convention.
Response by Delegation
On temporary special measures, the delegation said that the national plan put forth by the Supreme Council for Women included such measures. Regarding such measures in the political sphere, in particular quotas for elections, the Constitution did not allow them to interfere in the legislative power. When they imposed on the voter the election of a certain quota of persons that had to be stipulated in the Constitution. The Constitution, which established equality between men and women, could not discriminate in favour of women in terms of elections. However, political associations could oblige their members to use quota systems in terms of putting forth candidates for elections. France had such a system. Rather than an amendment to the Constitution, it would be better to ask for a change to the rules governing political parties.
Questions by Experts
An Expert said it was important that children not learn that a husband had the right to discipline his wife if they were to grow up not to commit violence against women. Until they changed society at the family level, there was no way to make head way on such major issues.
An Expert noted a reduction in reported rapes from 31 in 2001 to 12 in 2006. Was that owing to a decrease in the incidence of rape for some reason, or rather could it be indicative of additional obstacles to women's reporting. In addition, was there any witness protection programme for women victims of violence, was the Convention part of the training for judges, and what compensation could victims receive.
Did the proposed domestic law on violence carry penal sanctions for perpetrators of such violence, an Expert asked? An Expert was concerned about a toleration of gender stereotypes, which was one of the root causes of violence. Specifically in the educational sphere, as stated in the report at the primary level " certain areas are restricted to females, such as crochet, dolls, toys, and tricot, while carpentry, electricity, and metalworking are restricted". More disturbing, however, was that, at the Bahraini Training Institute, "most of the training programmes offered at the institute are restricted to males ... These include precision control instruments technologies, chemistry, electricity, electronics, mechanics". In the legal sphere there were similar stereotypes. To cite just one, there was a provision that if the rapist married the victim there was no crime committed.
Response by Delegation
The delegation said that Bahraini textbooks had been reviewed by the Ministry of Education to eliminate stereotypes. The textbooks focused on the real role of women in society. The Ministry of Education had included the Convention in one of its textbooks, as part of its move to encourage the role of women; this was also done through the introduction of family education, in which textbooks showed both the father and the mother having a role in the development of the child.
On domestic violence, the delegation said that violence was a new phenomenon in Bahraini society. Most of the violence was domestic violence. There had been a proposal advanced by the Legislative Authority on the subject of violence within the family, which would include extension of all remedies for women. Currently there was legal assistance available to women victims as well as shelters run by the Government and non governmental organizations. It was easy for women victims to have access to female lawyers.
Concerning the training of judges, which was provided by the Institute for Legal Studies, the delegation said the Convention was covered in those courses. A workshop on domestic violence would be held soon, with the participation of experts and judges.
With respect to stereotypes in the law, those had been reviewed and removed, the delegation affirmed.
In the media, a non-stereotypical vision of women was promoted, the delegation said. Programmes always highlighted the achievements and programmes were shown that sought to strengthen the role of women. The Ministry of Information ensured that programmes did not project women in a stereotypic way. Also, the Ministry ensured a gender balance in terms of television presenters. There were also women in high-level posts in the Ministry.
There were currently 600 women police in Bahrain, including officers and non-commissioned officers in the lower ranks. There were annual intakes of women in the Police Training Academy, and women were encouraged to apply via publicity campaigns.
As for the provision that allowed for amnesty for rape perpetrators that issue was being reconsidered.
Questions by Experts
On trafficking, Experts asked a number of questions, including what kinds of protection measures existed for migrant domestic workers; what the role of the police and labour inspectors was with regard to trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation; whether there was a national anti-trafficking strategy; and if the Government worked closely with women's NGOs in this area.
Other questions included what measures were being taken to promote participation of women in government; and what was being done to ensure that more women were appointed to high-level government posts, in particular in the diplomatic sphere.
Response by Delegation
The Bahraini Criminal Code penalized crimes of prostitution and trafficking in women, the delegation said, and a National Committee to Combat Trafficking, as well as a National Committee for Victims of Trafficking had been set up. The National Committee to Combat Trafficking included civil society groups, such as migrant workers groups, together with the Government. The National Committee for Victims of Trafficking included a unit to provide psychological and health care for women and children victims. It also cooperated with heads of unions, migrant worker associations and others to inform migrant workers of their rights in the spheres of work, health and others. In addition, Bahrain was working with countries of origin as well as with the International Organization for Migration to address this issue, most recently by launching a 9-month awareness-raising campaign with IOM. A mechanism was also in place to hear complaints in this area.
On police activity on this area, any communication of such a crime would be investigated. The Ministry of the Interior had inspection campaigns to stop offenders, implement measures, to transfer victims to shelters, and to instigate proceedings. It also cooperated with the Ministry of Labour to eliminate trafficking.
In the diplomatic corps there were 35 per cent women, and that figure was growing, the delegation said. The role of women was an eminent one, with a Bahraini woman having chaired the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Response by Delegation
Regarding women's participation in the Ministry of Defence, the delegation confirmed that women made up 5.2 per cent of military officers. They amounted to 40.5 per cent of the civilian personnel of the Ministry and 39.1 per cent of the civilian personnel in the Defence Forces.
Questions by Experts
An Expert said she understood that the proposal was before Parliament that would permit a Bahraini woman married to a foreigner to transmit her nationality to her children. What was the expected timeframe for that law's adoption? On education, an Expert wondered about the explanation in the report regarding the widening of the gender gap between the master’s level and the doctoral level which was "perhaps because women become preoccupied with family responsibilities and work and are thus unable to continue studying". Men also had work and family responsibilities. What was being done to overcome this issue?
With respect to the labour sphere, Experts asked if a specific law was contemplated to address sexual harassment in the workplace; if measures were being taken to close the salary gap between men and women; and whether Bahrain's new labour law would amend the gap in retirement ages between men and women.
Response by Delegation
The delegation said, with regard to the proposal before the Parliament on nationality, which had been submitted by the Supreme Council for Women, the timelines for Parliament's adoption of that law could not be predicted.
Regarding measures taken by the Ministry of Education to ensure that women finished their higher studies, the delegation affirmed that there was complete equality between men and women with regard to education. Primary education, through grade nine, was mandatory and the cost was fully covered by the Government. Secondary education was also free and open equally to men and women, and the curriculum was the same except for vocational training, which was provided for men only. The Technical Institute, and technical apprenticeships, however, were open to both men and women.
On labour issues, the delegation noted that the Ministry of Labour had set up a complaints mechanism, with a telephone hotline, and 91 complaints had been received by the Ministry of Labour by migrant and domestic workers between January and August 2008. The law required equal pay, as well as a number of benefits specifically for women, including maternity leave up to 45 days; the possibility of applying for two-year leave to care for a child under six; and two hours a day for women to care for children under six.
Questions by Experts
In the health sphere, Experts asked about campaigns to promote women's health, including for cancer screening or campaigns to encourage target groups, such as the elderly, to seek out health care; access by women to affordable, modern contraception methods; the fact that husbands had to agree before their wives could receive a caesarean section; and low awareness among women on HIV/AIDS prevention.
On marriage laws, an Expert was concerned that divorce laws were very discriminatory in favour of men. She also asked what was being done to eradicate the practice of polygamy. With respect to equality before the law, an Expert was concerned that a married woman could not testify because "the marital relationship is deemed to be ... an ethical obstacle". What did that ban cover? Could married women sue their husbands or bring complaints against them? Another concern was that women when they married were under a system of separation of property; whereas the Government appeared proud of that, it actually worked to women's detriment as it meant that women had no claim to the money or property their husband acquired during the marriage in the case of divorce. On custody laws, while the report said it was granted according to the "best interests of the child" there were laws that provided for children's custody to be transferred to the father after the child reached the age of seven in Jaafari Shariah courts, or in the event that the mother remarried. An Expert asked how the divorce proceedings worked, given that there were Sunni and Jaafari courts, in particular if those courts could hand down totally different sentences given the same facts, and what recourse a woman had if she was married to a man of the other sect.
Response by Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that women in Bahrain actually benefited more from Government health care programmes than men owing to issues surrounding pregnancy and birth, including prenatal care, family planning and breastfeeding. For family planning, there were special health centres throughout the country, wherever there were 20,000 or more people, which provided free contraceptive services. Free breast cancer screening was also available, and lately they had held an awareness-raising campaign to raise the number of those participating, which was admittedly low, 10 per cent.
There was no law or ministerial order that required that a husband had to give his consent for the performance of a caesarean section. However, in some cases there were conditions under which both a husband and a wife had to consent to certain medical procedures.
Family and social benefits were given equally to both men and women, whether in the public or the private sector, the delegation affirmed.
Regarding equality before the law, in particular with regard to marriage, the delegation said that men and women were equal before the law and had the same rights to bring cases. The law set the minimum age for marriage for both boys and girls. Bahraini society was an Islamic society and polygamy was a right given by Islamic Shariah. Bahraini society, however, did not suffer from this phenomenon, which was more spread among the lower classes and the less educated population. If a Sunni married a Shia woman the court that would look after the divorce and the inheritance would be the same one in which they were married.
Communal property in marriage was not necessarily better than the separation of property regime, the delegation pointed out. If a woman did not work then she could invest her money. Inheritance laws provided that a female child received half of what her brother received when her father died. However, it should be remembered that Shariah law also provided that the brother had to provide care for the mother and the sister, which was the rationale behind the difference in the inheritance laws.
Regarding child custody, the delegation said Islamic Shariah was applied, which took into account the best interest of the child. Therefore if Shariah felt that the best interest of the child was to grant custody to the mother or the father then it was done that way. Usually, custody was given to the female next of kin.
With respect to women's testimony, that was acceptable before all the courts, civil, criminal and Shariah. There was no restriction on that testimony, the delegation stressed.
Reverting to follow-up questions on violence against women, there were no cases in which a woman's death had resulted from domestic violence, the delegation replied. Marital rape was not considered a crime, according to the Penal Code. However, it was criminalized as physical assault and harassment. The offence of sexual harassment had been set out in the Penal Code in 1975, under crimes of honour. At any rate, this was not a prevalent phenomenon in Bahrain, and any cases were isolated ones. There were no statistics on complaints for this area. Regarding impunity for a rapist if he married the victim, they were seeking to have that law amended.
Concluding Remarks
SHAIKHA MARIAM BINT HASSAN AL KHALIFA, Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Women of Bahrain, in concluding remarks, thanked the Committee for the constructive dialogue, comments and proposals. Bahrain would see to it that that dialogue would be continued and pursued by disseminating the results of the meeting and in following up on recommendations, which would be the subject of great and careful study in Bahrain.
In some preliminary concluding observations, DUBRAVKA ŠIMONOVIĆ, Chairperson of the Committee, said that more visibility was needed for the Convention at the national level and more implementation. Bahrain should proceed in the direction it was already starting on, such as removal of discriminatory legislation and withdrawal of reservations, in particular a promise to withdraw reservations to article 9 (equality with regard to nationality) and to proceed with consideration of withdrawing its other reservations. Other areas for urgent action were the draft family law and a law on domestic violence.
For use of the information media; not an official record
CEDAW08025E