Progress Amid Resistance

★qatarby Julia Breslin and Toby Jones *POPULATION: 1,409,000GNI PER CAPITA: US$72,795COUNTRY RATINGS 2004 2009NONDISCRIMINATION AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE: 1.8 2.1AUTONOMY, SECURITY, AND FREEDOM OF THE PERSON: 2.0 2.3ECONOMIC RIGHTS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: 2.7 2.9POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIC VOICE: 1.7 1.8SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS: 2.4 2.5(COUNTRY RATINGS ARE BASED ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 5, WITH 1 REPRESENTING THE LOWEST AND 5 THEHIGHEST LEVEL OF FREEDOM WOMEN HAVE TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS)INTRODUCTIONWith major reforms beginning as early as 1995, Qatar has taken severalsteps in recent years toward promoting equality and addressing culturaland social traditions that discriminate against women. The 2004 enactmentof a new constitution provides hope that equality will be achievedboth in law and in practice, but to accomplish this, existing laws must bebrought into accord with the nondiscrimination clause in the constitutionand women need to be educated about their new rights. These effortson the part of the government are necessary in light of the challenges togender equality presented by strict cultural norms, as well as sheer demographics.As in many other oil-rich nations that depend on foreign guestworkers to fuel their national economy, women in Qatar are outnumberedby men nearly two to one, creating a society saturated by men. This, inturn, inherently influences women’s economic participation and involvementin all aspects of Qatari society.Women’s sense of security, enjoyment of personal freedoms, and abilityto make autonomous life decisions has improved with the enactment of thecountry’s first codified family law in 2006. Previously, cases dealing with* Sanja Kelly and Tyler Roylance also contributed to this report.397