Written by Fatima Najm
Manama, Mar. 12 (BNA): Deputy Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Egyptian Parliament, Sahar Al-Bazar, praised Bahrain’s commitment to empowering women to reach political leadership positions, noting that the international community praises Bahrain.
“There is a lot of progress and empowerment for women in Bahrain, and this is something we all see and applaud. As Arabs we are very proud and happy to see this happen,” she said.
Bahraini women are often lauded around the world for reaching new milestones in parliamentary representation, and the context for women’s political leadership continues to expand.
In the 2022 elections, a record number of eight Bahraini women reached the House of Representatives, some of whom were MPs for the first time.
In the quadrennial elections for the 40-member House of Representatives, out of 330 candidates, 73 were women, compared to 41 women who ran in the 2018 elections.
These achievements are often attributed to the great responsibility that Bahrain bears in providing equal rights to women and ensuring that they are represented in all institutions, including the House of Representatives, the Council of Representatives, and the Shura Council.
Bahraini women are aptly recognized as key players in the kingdom’s development process, and their contributions cover the full range of public life, politics, social development, business, and more.
In a statement to the Bahrain News Agency (BNA), Al-Bazar expressed her fears about the obstacles that women may face in the parliamentary field.
“Women may face obstacles in elections because some men prefer to vote for other men due to lack of confidence in women’s capabilities.”
She drew attention to the role of the family in supporting women to be part of any global democratic progress, and expressed regret that in some cultures families see that women’s work is to take care of children.
“We as parliamentarians should try to have an inclusive gender-sensitive parliament where you can see a day nursery where women parliamentarians can do their duties instead of staying home to take care of them,” said Elbazaar.
The President of the Belgian Senate, Stephanie Dawes, said that the laws in her country are the same for men and women.
“We’ve reached equality on the level of law, but on the moral level we still have a lot of work to do because I’m the youngest speaker of parliaments ever and I often see that people don’t trust me,” Dawes said.
She stressed the importance of talking about equal rights for women in international forums to convince young people that women have the same status in society.
“When I attend a conference, and my collaborator accompanies me, an older man, they think he is the president. Therefore, the only thing we can do in Belgium is give examples, good examples of our strength as women.”