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Women in Kuwait
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Women in Kuwait
The women of Kuwait have experienced many progressive changes since the early 20th century. Since then, women have had increased access to education, gained political and economic rights, and financial power. They can serve in the police, military, and as judges in courts. However, women in Kuwait struggle against a patriarchal culture which discriminates against them in several fields. Kuwait's Bedoon (stateless) women are at risk of significant human rights abuses and persecution. Kuwait has the largest number of Bedoon in the entire region.
According to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) data in 2024, the joblessness trend among Kuwaitis was found to significantly increase year after year. Major contributors to this trend include a rise in graduates from fields not sought by the labor market, poor linkage between skillsets acquired in these specializations and labor market demands, and insufficient attention to the private sector combined with inadequate coordination between concerned authorities. As of November 2023, the total unemployed Kuwaitis numbered 8,727, with women making up approximately 52 percent.
From the 17th century until the discovery of oil in the late 1940s, the economy of Kuwait was largely dependent on maritime trade. While men were seafaring, Kuwait's women managed their homes, and controlled family affairs and finances. For those families that could afford it, houses were built with a courtyard and a harem where women spent most of their time. This structure, along with high windows and doors that faced into the house rather than the street, removed women from public vision. Upper-class women's participation in the public sphere was very limited. However, lower-class women had a much less secluded experience; they went to the suq on a daily basis, fetched drinking water, and regularly washed their families’ clothes on the beach.
Kuwaiti girls began learning scripture in 1916 when the first Quran school was established. After this many women of modest means began working as Islamic instructors. The first private school opened in 1926; it taught reading, writing, and embroidery. Public schooling began in 1937 though enrollment in it was low for some time; however, by the 1940s many young Kuwaiti women were enrolled in primary school. It was often women themselves who pushed for these educational advances and opportunities and in 1956 a group of young women burned their abaya to protest their right to go abroad to study.
Women's rights activism began in Kuwait in the 1950s with the establishment of many women's groups (lijân nisâ’iah). Noureya Al-Saddani established the first of these groups, the Arab Women's Renaissance Association (later, Family Renaissance Association), in 1962. The Women's Cultural and Social Society followed a year later in February 1963. In 1975, The Girls Club (Nadi Alfatat) was established, advocating for women's sports. In 1971, Al-Saddani as head of the Arab Women's Development Society, began a national campaign for women's suffrage. Her initial proposal was rejected by the National Assembly.
During the liberal nationalist era in the 1950s and 1960s, the unveiling of Kuwaiti women was viewed as a natural part of the progress of Kuwait as a new independent nation; Kuwaiti feminists like Lulwah Al-Qatami and Fatima Hussain burned their veils and abaya in public. The majority of Kuwaiti women did not wear the hijab in the 1960s and 1970s. At Kuwait University throughout the 1960s and most of the 1970s, miniskirts were more common than the hijab. This development gradually turned around due to the growing Islamization of Kuwaiti society, which made veiling the norm again by the mid-to-late 1990s. In 1978, Sheikha Latifa Al-Sabah, then-wife of Emir Saad Al-Salim Al-Sabah, established the Islamic Care Association, seeking to spread Islam along with the associated lifestyle and conduct of Muslim life. However in recent decades, an increasing number of Kuwaiti women have been unveiling or choosing to not wear the hijab; including the daughter of Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood leader Tareq Al-Suwaidan.
During the Gulf War in Kuwait from 1990 to 1991, women played a significant part of resisting the Iraqi invasion, occupation, and supporting the offensive which liberated Kuwait from Iraqi control. This period of conflict also solidified Kuwaiti women from different backgrounds and raised their political awareness. After the war, demonstrations and protests for women's rights continued throughout the decade. A shift began, as more political figures supported the Kuwaiti women's rights proposals, most notably Emir Al-Sabah, whom in May 1999 attempted to institute women's suffrage by decree during a period of parliamentary dissolution; however, this decree was reversed by the newly elected National Assembly in November 1999.
Protests and activism continued and escalated into the 2000s alongside renewed proposals before the legislature, ultimately culminating in a 2004 protest inside the National Assembly building. The following year in 2005, Kuwaiti women held some of the largest demonstrations in their history, and in May 2005, the Assembly voted to give women full political rights to vote and hold office. The first elections Kuwaiti women ran for office and voted in were in June 2006. In 2009, four women were elected to parliament, Massouma A-Mubarak (the female minister appointed), Aseel Al-Awadhi, Rola Dashti, and Salwa Al-Jassar. In 2012, a lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice was resolved, enabling women to hold high positions in the judicial system. In 2014, twenty-two Kuwaiti women were appointed to serve as prosecutors. In 2018, the Kuwait Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs changed its policies to allow women in senior positions. In December 2019, three women were appointed to cabinet positions, including the first female Minister of Finance in the Persian Gulf region. On 30 June 2020, Kuwaiti Attorney General, Dirar Al-Asousi, approved the promotion of eight female prosecutors to become judges. On 3 September 2020, the eight judges were sworn in as the first female judges in Kuwait's history.
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Women in Kuwait
The women of Kuwait have experienced many progressive changes since the early 20th century. Since then, women have had increased access to education, gained political and economic rights, and financial power. They can serve in the police, military, and as judges in courts. However, women in Kuwait struggle against a patriarchal culture which discriminates against them in several fields. Kuwait's Bedoon (stateless) women are at risk of significant human rights abuses and persecution. Kuwait has the largest number of Bedoon in the entire region.
According to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) data in 2024, the joblessness trend among Kuwaitis was found to significantly increase year after year. Major contributors to this trend include a rise in graduates from fields not sought by the labor market, poor linkage between skillsets acquired in these specializations and labor market demands, and insufficient attention to the private sector combined with inadequate coordination between concerned authorities. As of November 2023, the total unemployed Kuwaitis numbered 8,727, with women making up approximately 52 percent.
From the 17th century until the discovery of oil in the late 1940s, the economy of Kuwait was largely dependent on maritime trade. While men were seafaring, Kuwait's women managed their homes, and controlled family affairs and finances. For those families that could afford it, houses were built with a courtyard and a harem where women spent most of their time. This structure, along with high windows and doors that faced into the house rather than the street, removed women from public vision. Upper-class women's participation in the public sphere was very limited. However, lower-class women had a much less secluded experience; they went to the suq on a daily basis, fetched drinking water, and regularly washed their families’ clothes on the beach.
Kuwaiti girls began learning scripture in 1916 when the first Quran school was established. After this many women of modest means began working as Islamic instructors. The first private school opened in 1926; it taught reading, writing, and embroidery. Public schooling began in 1937 though enrollment in it was low for some time; however, by the 1940s many young Kuwaiti women were enrolled in primary school. It was often women themselves who pushed for these educational advances and opportunities and in 1956 a group of young women burned their abaya to protest their right to go abroad to study.
Women's rights activism began in Kuwait in the 1950s with the establishment of many women's groups (lijân nisâ’iah). Noureya Al-Saddani established the first of these groups, the Arab Women's Renaissance Association (later, Family Renaissance Association), in 1962. The Women's Cultural and Social Society followed a year later in February 1963. In 1975, The Girls Club (Nadi Alfatat) was established, advocating for women's sports. In 1971, Al-Saddani as head of the Arab Women's Development Society, began a national campaign for women's suffrage. Her initial proposal was rejected by the National Assembly.
During the liberal nationalist era in the 1950s and 1960s, the unveiling of Kuwaiti women was viewed as a natural part of the progress of Kuwait as a new independent nation; Kuwaiti feminists like Lulwah Al-Qatami and Fatima Hussain burned their veils and abaya in public. The majority of Kuwaiti women did not wear the hijab in the 1960s and 1970s. At Kuwait University throughout the 1960s and most of the 1970s, miniskirts were more common than the hijab. This development gradually turned around due to the growing Islamization of Kuwaiti society, which made veiling the norm again by the mid-to-late 1990s. In 1978, Sheikha Latifa Al-Sabah, then-wife of Emir Saad Al-Salim Al-Sabah, established the Islamic Care Association, seeking to spread Islam along with the associated lifestyle and conduct of Muslim life. However in recent decades, an increasing number of Kuwaiti women have been unveiling or choosing to not wear the hijab; including the daughter of Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood leader Tareq Al-Suwaidan.
During the Gulf War in Kuwait from 1990 to 1991, women played a significant part of resisting the Iraqi invasion, occupation, and supporting the offensive which liberated Kuwait from Iraqi control. This period of conflict also solidified Kuwaiti women from different backgrounds and raised their political awareness. After the war, demonstrations and protests for women's rights continued throughout the decade. A shift began, as more political figures supported the Kuwaiti women's rights proposals, most notably Emir Al-Sabah, whom in May 1999 attempted to institute women's suffrage by decree during a period of parliamentary dissolution; however, this decree was reversed by the newly elected National Assembly in November 1999.
Protests and activism continued and escalated into the 2000s alongside renewed proposals before the legislature, ultimately culminating in a 2004 protest inside the National Assembly building. The following year in 2005, Kuwaiti women held some of the largest demonstrations in their history, and in May 2005, the Assembly voted to give women full political rights to vote and hold office. The first elections Kuwaiti women ran for office and voted in were in June 2006. In 2009, four women were elected to parliament, Massouma A-Mubarak (the female minister appointed), Aseel Al-Awadhi, Rola Dashti, and Salwa Al-Jassar. In 2012, a lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice was resolved, enabling women to hold high positions in the judicial system. In 2014, twenty-two Kuwaiti women were appointed to serve as prosecutors. In 2018, the Kuwait Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs changed its policies to allow women in senior positions. In December 2019, three women were appointed to cabinet positions, including the first female Minister of Finance in the Persian Gulf region. On 30 June 2020, Kuwaiti Attorney General, Dirar Al-Asousi, approved the promotion of eight female prosecutors to become judges. On 3 September 2020, the eight judges were sworn in as the first female judges in Kuwait's history.
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