Women Fight for Rights in Kuwait - But Who Are They Leaving Behind?

You’d think we’re living in the Dark Ages the way politics in Kuwait firmly continues to put its women in the backseat of the country’s government. It’s been more than four years since Kuwaiti women won the right to vote and run for parliamentary positions. However, since that first delectable victory of women’s suffrage rights in Kuwait, the female-fueled political machine has come to a deafening dead end.

Seeking to shake things up a bit, a group of savvy female Kuwaiti political activists seized upon the occasion of last week’s International Women’s Day to shine the limelight right back in their direction, by holding a symposium to highlight the lack of rights for Kuwaiti females. And Kuwaiti women showed up in droves to let their voices be heard, representing every segment of Kuwaiti society from doctors to schoolteachers to even housewives.

The issues addressed ranged from the barring of becoming judges for Kuwaiti female lawyers, to the ineligibility of promotions for women working in the public sector. Special attention was also given at the symposium for gender discrepancies when it comes to social welfare. Kuwaiti women who marry non-Kuwaitis lose their right to obtain a free home from the government and their children are denied the Kuwaiti nationality as well as financial allowances from the government. Contrastingly, Kuwait males receive full benefits regardless of whom they marry.

However, the most notable part of the entire symposium was the complete and utter ignorance of the non-Kuwaiti female populous who enjoy zero rights and even less consideration. The Kuwaiti women know exactly what it feels like to be ignored in a government that they must live under and economically support. So how can they demand their rights while, at the same time, not insisting even basic rights for their non-Kuwait sisters living within their borders?

Non-Kuwaitis make up a whopping 69% of the total populous of Kuwait and a huge chunk of that is female. Non-Kuwaiti women living in Kuwait struggle to maintain even the simplest of jobs as the best jobs in Kuwait are often reserved for ‘Kuwaitis only’.

Ironically, Kuwaiti females are paid higher salaries than their non-Kuwaiti counterparts even if the job is the same or even in the same location. Case in point: at a local privately owned school in Kuwait, a Kuwaiti office worker makes an estimated 45% more per annum than a non-Kuwait office worker doing the exact same job.

There is also no way for non-Kuwaiti women to participate in the government. Unlike in America, where just about anyone can become a citizen, the Kuwaiti nationality is based on familial bloodlines and DNA.

It seems strange to me that Kuwaiti women can use their voices to stand up for themselves and demand their rights, which they undoubtedly deserve, while not even acknowledging the disservices that non-Kuwait women face every day. I mean, really, can’t they afford to throw a bone to their non-Kuwaiti sisters who have been cheering them all along the way?

Source: Middle East Online