The Women Affairs Department in Al Wefaq National Islamic Society organized a conference about the complications and opportunities to develop the role of Bahraini women on the political, social, human rights and media levels.
Academics, activists and politicians attended the conference which included 6 workshops distributed between the political, human rights and media sessions.
Khalil Almarzooq, who is the political assistant to Al-Wefaq’s Secretary-General and a resigned MP, delivered a presentation titled, ‘ Political Professionalism for Women’ in the first workshop of the political session. In the second workshop, the conferees dedicated messages to Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General, about the situation of Bahraini women today and of the sufferings of the Bahraini citizens since the beginning of the crackdown on the democratic movement in the country.
The human rights session focused on communication with Rashida Manjoo, Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women in the UN and other concerned international establishments.
The media session came across examples of Bahraini women who took the initiative to organize campaigns and foundations supportive to the cause of the Bahraini people who are fighting for democracy and justice. In the second workshop of the session, the conferees discussed a film about the revolution in Egypt and which is directed by an Egyptian woman.
Jalila Alsalman, former prisoner of conscience and deputy president of Bahrain Teachers Association, was given the Bahiya Alaradi award. Bahiya is a Bahraini woman who was killed in March 2011 by regime forces, following the brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy revolution in Bahrain.
The final communiqué of the conference outlined numbers of human rights violations against women according to the statistics of Al Wefaq. The numbers included 231 females who had been arrested since 2011, 18 of whom were under the age of 18. It also mentioned that 120 female students were suspended and 308 female employees were dismissed. On top of all this, 13 Bahraini women have been killed by the regime since 2011.
The conference was concluded by a number of recommendations that included;
-To form a national commission to follow the situation of Bahraini women and the violations they are subjected to.
-To prepare Bahraini women to reach the professional level in politics through an inclusive program.
-To activate initiatives that enable women in politics, human rights activism and the media.
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