The Kuwaiti National Assembly room
Rice University junior Ellen Trinklein, a research intern at the Baker Institute, recently had the opportunity to interview Aseel Alawadhi, who in 2009 became one of the first women elected to the Kuwaiti National Assembly. Currently a visiting scholar at Georgetown University, Dr. Alawadhi shared her insights on the status of women in Kuwaiti society and on women’s role in the decision-making process in Kuwait. The discussion clarified the struggles of many Kuwaiti women today, Trinklein writes. Her take-away from the interview follows:
In 2005, a decree that gave Kuwaiti women the right to vote and run for office allowed women unprecedented access to political power and opened many previously closed doors. However, women in Kuwait are still prevented from attaining their full political and social rights due to outdated social traditions and beliefs that pressure women to remain in the home.
One of the most important benefits of the 2005 decree is that it gave Kuwaiti women the confidence to believe in their importance as citizens and to fight for their rights. Dr. Alawadhi cited many examples of women who, encouraged by their political power, fought and reformed discriminatory laws, including ones regarding women’s ability to be judges, obtain loans and receive government financial support when not married. “I think the level of confidence in themselves has grown since women have gotten into parliament, because as women got their political rights they became a number in politics, a number that really matters … Those changes encouraged women to fight for their rights,” she said.
The act of campaigning by women and to get the female vote has also broken many social boundaries. Kuwaiti women constitute 57 percent of the votes in Kuwait; once women were given the vote, even the most conservative political candidates could not neglect their female constituencies if they hoped to be elected into office. Women have also begun to break into the male-dominated arena of informal political institutions, particularly the political and social gatherings known as diwaniyyas.
By virtue of their new role as voters, women have started gathering on their own to discuss politics, while women running for office are invited to and even expected to visit the all-male diwaniyyas, breaking the traditional gender divide. Lastly, some candidates, notably Dr. Alawadhi, have instituted co-ed campaigns, a strategy meant to introduce gender mixing into Kuwaiti society. “I was criticized for [having co-ed campaigns], I lost voters because of that, but I didn’t care really. For me, the most important thing to implement certain values and standards. I think soon enough people will be more accepting to women, or to even mixing with women.” The gains in the political arena will have widespread effects on Kuwait’s social framework.
While political opportunities for women have increased, Kuwaiti women still fail to realize their potential because social traditions dictate that a woman’s primary role should be in the domestic sphere rather than in the public sphere as professionals or leaders. “The real issue is that women believe that marriage and having a husband is by far more important than anything else,” Dr. Alawadhi said. “In a society like that, you always as a female have to choose between ambition and satisfying social duties. You can’t have both.” Dr. Alawadhi’s remarks are further supported by the fact that although 52.6 percent of all doctors, 55.9 percent of all lawyers and economists, and 64.5 percent of all medical technicians in Kuwait are female, only 5.8 percent of leadership positions are held by women. If women want to pursue those top leadership positions, which often require additional study or work abroad, they must postpone or uproot their family obligations and duties, something many husbands and wives are uncomfortable doing.
Further obstacles to the woman’s cause include the lack of solidarity between women’s rights activists,strong class divides between those seeking progress, and female conservatism in Kuwait. Dr. Alawadhi noted that Kuwaiti culture does not fully appreciate teamwork or group work. It is the lack of unity between people seeking positive transformation that slows the rate of reform. Additionally, class divides prevent liberal women’s organizations such as the Women’s Cultural and Social Society from achieving the good they hope to do, as they are run by an elite class that is unapproachable to women of lower classes. Finally, most women are in fact more conservative than men and many actively campaign to support conservative or Islamist agendas that discourage female empowerment outside the home.
Kuwaiti culture has in the past few decades designated the role of women as that solely within the domestic sphere as a wife and mother. Although a woman’s role as a wife and mother is undoubtedly important and should not be neglected, Kuwaiti women need to recognize the availability of a different narrative, one in which women can achieve high degrees of professionalism while having a family. In order for this to happen, women need to recognize and support their wives’ and daughters’ rights to pursue a career. Social change is a slow and difficult process, but if women can find strength in unity and recognize the many roles they have a right to play, change can and will occur.
When she returns to her position as an assistant professor at Kuwait University after a one-year sabbatical, Dr. Alawadhi will likely not return to politics, she said. “To me, my objective was more to promote or empower women, not necessarily for myself to be in politics. And I think I have achieved that.”
Ellen Trinklein, a junior at Rice University majoring in German studies and policy studies, is a research intern with the Baker Institute’s Women and Human Rights in the Middle East Program.