by Suad Hamada
-Bahrain-

Savatri used a condom for the first time in her life when she was forced into prostitution a few months ago. Fortunately, the 34-year-old Indian woman was instructed by the managers of the brothel to insist that her clients wear a condom - the only preventive method against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV, in use by sex workers in Bahrain.

Sex workers’ last hope for proper medical care was lost at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna last July when Bahrain officially declined to provide licenses to sex workers as a measure to reduce HIV/AIDS cases. Although sex work remains one of the risk factors in increasing HIV/AIDS rates, Bahrain rejected the proposal without hesitation out of fear of clashes with our conservative society, Dr. Somaya Al Jowder, head of the National AIDS Program, tells me.

by Suad Hamada
-Bahrain-

Polygamy is both legal and socially accepted in Bahrain and the rest of the Islamic world. Religious leaders defend the right of men to have up to four wives if they ensure equality among them. Yet, despite this, cases are reported of men deserting their first wives for a new one. Although polygamy is not widespread in Bahrain - according to official statistics only 4% of the male population here are polygamists - the open option for men is a major concern of Bahraini women who are mistreated by husbands who threaten to marry other women and have the power to do so by law.

Zakiya never thought her teen sweetheart would become a polygamist. “I married him before graduating from high school against my parents’ wishes,” the forty-plus wife recalls.

by Suad Hamada
- Bahrain -

Fadhila is only allowed to go to the toilet after asking permission from her husband, she also puts up with his frequent demands for sex - even when she’s menstruating – but neither is a valid enough reason to be granted divorce by Bahrain’s Shariah Court. So Fadhila’s only option is to seek Khula, or divorce without reason, from the judge. She may be granted her freedom, but there is always a price. Women who are awarded Khula are required to either financially compensate their husbands or give away their marriage settlements, including custody rights to their children. “There is no way out,” 23-year-old Fadhila tells me. “I have to end this marriage that took five years of my life, even [if it means] paying double the dowry.”

Fadhila’s case against her teen sweetheart was dismissed in court because according to the judge, meeting the sexual demands of her husband is a religious obligation. The judge also wasn’t convinced of his controlling nature. Her husband testified his jealousy kept him from giving Fadhila more freedom. His brothers, he explained, live with them at the family house and he just isn’t comfortable letting Fadhila use the toilet when they are around.

by Suad Hamada
- Bahrain -

Hell is what most Arabs think of when the word “transsexual” comes into any conversation since many mistake it with homosexuality, which is a sin in Islam. Most transsexuals prefer to remain anonymous since in some Arab countries they could face jail sentences for dressing or acting like the opposite sex. Many, especially men who feel trapped in the body of a woman, keep their problems hidden to avoid being punished or killed by their families. It is far easier for a woman to have a sex change to become a man than visa-versa. A man who becomes a woman is seen to have dishonored the family.

by Suad Hamada
- Bahrain -

Getting a divorce and custody of one’s children is very difficult in Bahrain, even in cases where a husband sexually attacks his wife. The issue was exposed to the public last year, when an Arab woman married to a Bahraini was granted a divorce by the courts after she lost part of her breast during a violent sexual encounter with her spouse. A medical report submitted during the case citing the need for corrective surgery was valid enough evidence for the judge to call off the marriage. Though such cases are rarely highlighted in the media here, the plight of this woman made top headlines in many regional newspapers.

by Suad Hamada
- Bahrain -

Adhari was at one time a legendary site that attracted many tourists to the tiny desert island of Bahrain. Named for a beautiful girl whose tears flowed endlessly because she could not marry her love, the myth of the once-great spring represents ancient Bahrainis’ spiritual connection to the land.

Besides their devotion to God, our ancestors loved nature and cared for the environment, worshipping water as a symbol of their existence. Old Bahrainis worshiped Enki, the God of Freshwater for their sustainable water supply. As a sign of their devotion, they built three temples on the site of the Um Al Sojoor spring in a village called Barbar around 3000 BC.

But modern-day Bahrainis can no longer rely on Enki, and may have even forgotten Adhari’s myth - her tears dried up decades ago, along with other wells and springs, leaving Bahrainis largely dependent on desalinated water that is mixed with high-salinity groundwater. The demise of the Adhari spring is a sad reflection of Bahrain’s unchecked development – it is now little more than a swimming pool in the middle of an amusement park.

by Suad Hamada
- Bahrain -

“Arab and Gulf Banks will be completely safe from the global financial crisis.” That is what many Arab officials are announcing these days, but ordinary people are not reassured and fail to understand how the Arab World, with its average economies, can possibly be insulated from such catastrophe. They expect that the global financial crisis will eventually add new worries to their daily hardships.

Thirty-five year old Bahraini Ali Hassan doesn’t know much about economics but he understands that the world’s financial markets are not stable and is concerned that the instability will affect him and his family. “I don’t have a large savings but the idea of the banks losing their financial credibility or going bankrupt makes me insecure.”

by Suad Hamada
- Bahrain -

They live in the richest states in the world but cannot afford to buy essential commodities because their countries were busy promoting oil related investments, rather than securing profitable food and agriculture industry.

• Once flush with cash, many families in the Gulf are adjusting to higher prices. Photograph by Biju Hari. •

In the journey to protect and improve oil revenues, many of the important occupations at the core of the regions’ economy before the discovery of oil, such as fishing and farming, were scrubbed. Once these countries realized that oil, as a natural resource, would eventually deplete, they shifted their focus to business and development, leading to an environmental crisis marked by shrinking agricultural lands and reclamation. This problem is especially significant for Bahrain, a tiny island.

by Suad Hamada
- Bahrain -

Most of them came by sea through tough journeys, seeking better lives. They loved their new homelands both before and after the oil era that brought wealth beyond anyone’s expectations. Many of them fought for independence and development in their new countries. But what did they get in return?

They didn’t get awards or national recognition, instead they were just marked with an unbearable word for the rest of their lives: Bidoon or stateless. Even their children and grandchildren, who have never known another homeland, are counted as stateless. Most of the young men who came to the Gulf states in the 1920s and 1930s are long dead and buried under the soil of countries that never accepted them as citizens.

by Suad Hamada
- Bahrain -

“The land that I grew to love, hates my babies.” This is sadly what many Bahraini women of stateless children think to themselves every single day of their lives.

Like outcasts, they feel helplessly pulled between a country they call home and their children who should be recognized as citizens but aren’t, only because they decided to marry foreigners.

by Suad Hamada
Bahrain

Women’s empowerment apparently clashes with the not-so-hidden agendas of Kuwaiti and Bahraini parliamentarians. Dirty politics have resulted in the recent resignation of the first two female ministers ever to join the cabinets in either country.

In Kuwait, Health Minister Dr. Massouma Saleh Al Mubarak resigned shortly after being grilled by the parliament over irregularities in her ministry, as well as about a fire that broke out in a public hospital that caused the death of one patient and injuries to others. Last month in Bahrain, Health Minister Dr. Nada Haffadh resigned over conflicts and arguments with Shiite Conservative MP Mohammed Al Mizal so heated that they made newspaper headlines.

by Suad Hamada
Bahrain

Bahraini women facing divorce, child custody or alimony disputes walk with heavy hearts and slow steps into Shariah Courts, fearing humiliation and injustice from judges in the only court system that rules over these issues. These women know they have no legal way to challenge arbitrary, inconsistent and unjust verdicts because Bahraini civil law doesn’t have any jurisdiction over Shariah Court verdicts.

• Photograph by Wendy McGregor •

Hanan Mohammed can’t forget what a bitter experience she had in the Shariah courts when she went there to seek an increase in her inadequate alimony. The judge who “avoided any eye contact” not only declined to increase the amount of her alimony, even though he knew that her ex-husband had gotten a sizable salary increase, but he was openly hostile and rude to her, with no provocation. She says her rights have been violated and that she feels “humiliated” by the encounter.

by Suad Hamada
Bahrain

By Suad Hamada
Bahrain

A young girl has faced the threat of being expelled from her primary school only because her mother is infected with AIDS.

This secret was neither known to the girl nor the school, but was exposed by a parent who insisted on suspending her to protect other children from infection. Despite the mother’s adamant protestations that her daughter was not infected with the virus, the school persisted until a blood test was performed on the girl. The test revealed what the mother passionately claimed from the beginning - her daughter is HIV negative.

The girl’s story is but one account of the many injustices suffered by youngsters with infected parents and those children who have HIV/AIDS.

by Suad Hamada
Bahrain

Working women in Bahrain are facing many challenges and female activists predict they will encounter even more hardships after the full implementation of the newly ratified Free Trade Agreement between Bahrain and the United States.

A recent study reveals that only 9.9% of the top managerial posts in Bahrain’s private sector are held by women. Besides accepting the second best when it comes to promotion and work privileges, females have to find ways to cope with the tough competition the FTA will bring with its open market policies.

Put into effect last year, the FTA is expected to contribute to the economic growth of Bahrain and increase revenues of businesses. But according to the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) that is dedicated to safeguarding the interests of Bahrain’s female citizens by empowering them in all walks in life, the FTA’s effects on women are still uncertain.

by Suad Hamada
Bahrain

What could be more demeaning to women than allowing men to divorce their spouses by sending text messages from their mobile phones?

If such a move materializes, Muslim men could benefit more from modern technology than women as Muslim women would not be allowed this privilege and Islam prohibits them from calling off a marriage without the approval of Sharia judges. Many women who ask for divorce in court end up losing custody of their children and other marriage settlements.

by Suad Hamada
Bahrain

Women come as second or third priority to the Parliament in Bahrain as MPs consider them to be weak voters. This is the case even though 148,000 women participated in the parliamentary and municipal election in 2006 from a total of 295,000 voters. MPs and election candidates don’t take them seriously as they believe that they are influenced by their male relatives.