Women in Qatar

Women in Qatar
Shaikha Khalaf Al Mohammed, Mehbubeh Akhlaghi and Bahiya Al-Hamad of the Qatar women's national rifle team celebrate their medals at the 2011 Pan Arab Games
General Statistics
Maternal mortality (per 100,000)7 (2010)
Women in parliament0.1% (2013)
Women over 25 with secondary education66.7% (2012)
Women in labour force50.8% (2012)
Gender Inequality Index[1]
Value0.220 (2021)
Rank54th out of 191
Global Gender Gap Index[2]
Value0.617 (2022)
Rank137th out of 146

Women in Qatar are subject to the country's male guardianship law.[3] Qatar is the only remaining country in the Gulf region with such laws,[4] Women in Qatar were enfranchised at the same time as men.[5] Labour force participation rates of Qatari women are above the world average and among the highest in the Arab World,[6] which comes mainly as a result of an increasing number of Qatari women who are attaining academic degrees.[7]

There is limited mixing between the sexes and Qatari women in public are largely expected to wear traditional clothing which typically consists of an abaya and shayla, both of which partially conceal their appearance. Mouza Al Malki, a psychologist, claims that gender separation is influenced more by cultural factors than religious factors.[8] Women in Qatar must obtain permission from their male guardians to marry, study abroad on government scholarships, work in many government jobs, travel abroad until certain ages, receive some forms of reproductive health care and to act as a child's primary guardian, even when they are divorced.[9]

  1. ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Global Gender Gap Report 2022" (PDF). World Economic Forum. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Qatar: Events of 2018". World Report 2019: Qatar – Human Rights Watch. www.hrw.org. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Qatar only remaining GCC country restricting travel for women". Al Arabiya English. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lambert2011a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference theworldbank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference fanar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference ABC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Qatar: Male Guardianship Severely Curtails Women's Rights". Human Rights Watch. 29 March 2021.