Progress Amid Resistance

234 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICARecommendationsF The government should amend the marriage contract rules under familylaw to allow all Kuwaiti women over age 18 to marry the partnersof their choice.F The government or private institutions should fund domestic violencecenters to provide temporary shelter, legal assistance, and counselingfor battered women.F Government agency personnel responsible for law enforcement andhealth services should receive in-depth training on dealing with violenceagainst women and children so that they are positioned to assistand protect victims of violence more effectively.F The government should seek to protect migrant workers from abuse andexploitation—with special attention to female domestic workers—byin troducing tougher penalties for employers who violate their rightsand making it mandatory for all families to put the wages of their do -mestic workers in bank accounts, a rule that currently applies to workersin the public sector.F The government or other bodies should create an independent women’srights research center tasked with compiling and publishing qualitativeand quantitative data in a range of areas concerning women, such asdo mestic violence, social policies, employment, and women’s health.ECONOMIC RIGHTS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITYWomen in Kuwait enjoy high literacy and employment rates, and theiren rollment in postsecondary education and participation in the workforcehave increased over the past decade. The government has investedef forts to create more employment opportunities for all Kuwaitis, men andwomen; however, the results have been mixed. 23Kuwaiti women are entitled to own and have full and independentuse of their land, property, income, and assets. Nonetheless, their right toinheritance is unequal to that of men in accordance with the Koran, whichstipulates that a woman’s share is equal to half that of her brother. Thisreflects the Shari‘a requirement that, while a woman may use her inheritancefor her sole benefit, a male beneficiary must use his inheritance tosupport all the dependent female members of his family.