US embassy cable - 05MANAMA73

UNCLAS MANAMA 000073 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KWMN, BA 
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN HOSTS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON 
WOMEN'S RIGHTS 
 
Sensitive but unclassified (deliberative process); please 
protect accordingly.  Not for Internet distribution. 
 
1.  (U) Amnesty International (AI) and the Bahrain Social 
Partnership to Stop Violence Against Women hosted a women's 
rights conference in Bahrain January 8-9.  More than 60 
activists from Bahrain, other Gulf countries, and Lebanon 
attended.  They called on their respective governments to 
reform existing laws that discriminate against women and 
introduce new laws that protect women.  They stressed that 
both governments and societies must promote greater awareness 
of violence against women and must be more willing to stop 
it.  The conference was the first of its kind in the Gulf. 
Bahrain's Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs planned to 
participate in the event, but at the last minute announced it 
would not.  The Ministry offered no explanation. 
 
2.  (U) The conference was part of Amnesty International's 
worldwide "Stop Violence Against Women" campaign, which was 
launched in London last year.  Organizers in Bahrain joined 
the AI campaign in October 2004.  Conference attendees called 
on governments to review all laws to ensure that they do not 
discriminate against women and that they provide adequate 
safeguards for women.  Most participants also urged their 
governments to ratify the International Convention to 
Eliminate all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 
though certain provisions (i.e., regarding women's rights in 
marriage and divorce) of the convention were unacceptable to 
more religiously conservative attendees.  Islamic and Legal 
Studies scholar Sheikh Sadeq Jibran said "there is a need for 
additional Islamic studies to address misconceptions about 
what is contradictory to the Islamic Sharia.  This issue must 
be urgently addressed because it may lead to more 
misunderstanding on the contents of CEDAW." 
 
3.  (U)  Presenters at the conference said human rights 
education plays a vital role in changing a stereotypical 
image of women that makes them more susceptible to violence. 
Many still believe, for example, that women should "keep 
family secrets" and not report abuse.  Participants 
underscored the need for statistics and reliable research to 
show the extent of the problem.  They called for the creation 
of a regional research center to conduct surveys and provide 
analysis on discrimination and violence against women.  They 
said that without concrete evidence, many people will deny 
that problems exist.  (Note: A conference participant 
revealed that Interior Ministry figures show that there were 
764 complaints filed in 2003 for physical of verbal abuse 
against women in Bahrain, compared with 1,232 in 2002 and 867 
in 2001.  She did not comment on whether the decrease was due 
to a drop in abuse or a decline in reporting.  End Note.) 
Participants also endorsed AI's call to include expatriate 
housemaids in labor law provisions.  Most countries in the 
Gulf employ large numbers of foreign domestic workers and 
abuse is widespread. 
 
4.  (SBU) Comment:  Bahrain's hosting this conference 
demonstrates an increasing interest in addressing women's 
issues in the country.  Women's rights NGOs here are well 
organized and effective.  We are encouraged that they are 
already asking for U.S. assistance in preparing female 
candidates for the 2006 municipal and parliamentary 
elections.  The AI conference brought together a diverse 
group of women -- some very conservative and some very 
liberal.  The partnerships they built are certainly a good 
start to regional cooperation in combating violence and 
discrimination against women. 
MONROE