The push of women in Qatar is key to earning their space
Getting married, studying or leaving the country are rights that many Qatari women cannot exercise without the consent of a man, although a new generation of women is striving to break barriers, trying to evade the limits imposed by a discriminatory culture and becoming a driving force economic and social change in the country.
The Qatari male guardianship system requires women to obtain authorization from a male (parents, brothers or her husband, if she is married) to exercise almost any type of fundamental rights.
Nor can they make decisions about the lives of their children or exercise custody in the event of divorce. Rules whose application depends on how strict each family is or not, so the push of women and cultural openness is key.
In its report entitled “Everything I have to do is tied to a man”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlights how this model of male guardianship in Qatar is not a clear legal system but rather a mix of laws, policies and practices under of which adult women must obtain permission from a male guardian to engage in certain activities.
Nor do they decide on the women (up to four, according to the law) with whom their husbands can marry simultaneously. Once married, a woman may be considered “disobedient” if she does not get her husband’s permission to work or travel, if she leaves home or refuses to have sex with him without a “legitimate” reason, the report notes.
Some rules imposed by the country’s own Family Law, which establishes that guardianship ends when people turn 18, although in practice it is applied throughout their lives depending on each situation. Although the country’s own Constitution establishes equality before the law without discrimination based on sex, it is a cultural model that is applied de facto.
On the other hand, the lack of legislation on domestic violence leaves women helpless and exposed to possible abuse by husbands or relatives.
In practice, discrimination is different as long as they are lucky enough to have an open-minded family that allows them to be part of these new generations of empowered women who have reached the highest levels in the country’s business and political fabric.
They divorce and travel without permission and can start businesses, something unthinkable for past generations. It is the new wave of Qatari society in its push to change the emirate’s massive gender inequality. In this sense, in private companies women have found a space in which to be free and grow without cultural or legal impediments, with maternity leave, balance between work and family life, teleworking, part-time work or flexibility.
This “revolution” is also beginning to be seen in the Qatari government, where three of the 18 ministries are headed by women: Health, Education, and Social and Family Affairs. However, Qatari women need the permission of the male guardian to perform these jobs and, in many cases, experience discrimination at the time of selection.
