In a climate of gradual political and social change, Kuwait weathered a gender-sensitive society and became the fourth Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member country to grant women the right to vote and stand for public office, following similar moves by Bahrain, Oman and Qatar. Four of the six GCC countries, excluding Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have appointed women as Cabinet ministers and some of them have selected women as members of various representative bodies.

While these measures help dilute the “conservative” image of GCC societies and lend relief as well as confidence to those championing women’s rights, it is important to look at the road ahead. Will the process of meaningfully translating selection of women to electing them to public offices be easy or long winding and what are the factors that will aid or hinder this cause?

Take the case of Bahrain. More than half the 51.28 percent who turned out to vote in the 2002 municipal polls — the first since 1957 and the first with women candidates — were women. Yet, not a single woman managed to get elected. In a survey conducted ahead of the Parliament elections held less than six months later, more than 60 percent of Bahraini women were opposed to the participation of women in the elections. As a result, not one woman managed to get elected to the Parliament.

A study by the Women Affairs Committee at the Democratic Arab-Islamic Wassat Society identified several reasons: Women were not convinced of the ability of other women to run for public offices; they lacked political awareness; influence of religious leaders and conservative figures; rigid social traditions; inability of women to administer public affairs; and lack of effective women support forums that could help their candidates get elected. Without underplaying the other obstacles, it is thus no exaggeration to suggest that women are women’s greatest enemies.

Further, women’s issues are politicized not only because of their intrinsic importance, but also because of the way they intersect with other political issues and the role they play in defining the relationship between religion and politics.

Some argue that women are not ready for voting rights because they are not “politically mature in a traditional society” and would neglect their families. What is more, women are incapable of assuming an independent political stand; if they were enfranchised, they would be liable to manipulation by the men of the family.

The elections in Bahrain yielded interesting findings. Some voters believed women were less competent than men, and others refused to even meet women candidates. The study pointed out that one of the main obstacles cited by women candidates was the difficulty to contact men voters due to “social restrictions,” an issue that might resurface in Kuwait since efforts toward segregation in academic institutions continue and the fact that the new election law requires women candidates and voters to abide by Shariah.

Among the suggestions to overcome these obstacles and achieving meaningful rights for women are empowering them economically by training and integrating them into the job market, making them a part of the decision-making process and incorporating them into the judicial system in order to modernize laws so that legalized gender discrimination can end.

The crucial difference between Bahraini and Kuwaiti women, however, is the presence of a relatively higher number of able and ambitious women in Kuwait. Kuwaitis began educating women as early as the 1930s and provided scholarships for girls to study in universities abroad. They were also among the first in the Gulf to employ women in both the public and private sectors. The urban families in particular saw no contradiction between Islam and economic and social progress. Their forward-looking mentality was the basis of progress in Kuwait until the early 1980s, after which a new set of rigid values was presented by those groups, who claimed that they were championing “true Islamic values.”

The spread of education among members of formerly disadvantaged groups in Kuwaiti society promoted the development of a new class of competent Kuwaitis who did not belong to the hitherto powerful families. Competing against them was the merchant class, which pushed for gender equality to maintain its own class dominance; they felt it was better to have women of their own class take over prestigious positions than allow men from other social classes to rise up in the hierarchy. Thus, education and class competition have ensured more liberal values in Kuwait, which could throw up surprises in the 2007 elections.

Nevertheless, overcoming discriminatory attitudes and achieving political rights is only a beginning in an incomplete transformation process. Though selection serves its purpose for now, real transformation will come only when women are elected and not selected. It is women themselves who have to battle the prejudice and weight of what are called “Gulf traditions”.

— Dr. N. Janardhan is editor of Gulf in the Media at Gulf Research Center, Dubai.