Empowerment of women and girls

The Ministry of Labour and has adopted a number of current and future projects and initiatives aiming at increasing the rates of Bahraini women integration into the labour market and promoting their participation in work in the private sector by providing appropriate work opportunities and improving the work environment and general conditions to suit the privacy and nature of women. Article No. (9) of Labour Law in the Private Sector stipulates the following: “Subject to the provisions of this Title, female workers must be subject to all of the provisions governing the employment of male workers without discrimination in similar situations.” This article expressly prohibits gender discrimination.

In addition, the Labour Law in the Private Sector of 2012 has granted women with all the protections and privileges as the new law has stipulated additional privileges for women that include the following:

• Permitting women to work day or night, with an exception not to work at night in certain professions, in line with international labour standards that prohibit racial discrimination between men and women in this field.
• Prolonging the period of maternity leave to sixty paid days instead of forty-five days as stipulated in the previous law.
• Allowing a working woman to obtain an unpaid maternity leave to care for her child, who has not exceeded six years; of maximum of six month at a time and three times throughout the term of her service. This new term has not been stipulated by the previous law.
• Providing women with a one month paid leave in the event of death of her spouse and female workers have the right to take three months and ten days deducted from the balance of their annual leaves. In the event the balance of annual leave is insufficient, a woman may take an unpaid leave. This leave has been recently acknowledged by law for the purpose of maintaining equality between workers in the government sector and the private sector as well.

The institution of the Supreme Council for Women, chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of the King of Bahrain, has been a complementary step to the efforts of the Kingdom of Bahrain for empowering women. The council consists of sixteen public women figures and women with experience in women's affairs.

Moreover, an award to empower Bahraini women has been created after the name of HRH Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, by a Royal Order of His Highness His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of the Kingdom of Bahrain, may Allah preserve and sponsor him. The award is granted every two years to institutions of the public and private sectors that adhere to the standards approved for women empowerment, and which thrive to create an organizational and administrative environment for the Bahraini women to work within. This award supports the attainment of equal opportunities for both sexes and has been actually granted to a number of government institutions and private sector companies from 2006 to 2016.

It is worth mentioning that the fifties have witnessed the first attempts made by Bahraini women to obtain work opportunities as employees in the private sector. Later during the sixties, they began to own commercial records and step into the field of entrepreneurship. In this regard, the statistical results confirm the clear vision of the current situation of women and female workers in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the private sector, as during 2016 the percentage of Bahraini women participation in private works and business has increased to %32.8. Moreover, the average wage of Bahraini women in the private sector has risen from 465 dinars in 2011 to 521 dinars until the second quarter of 2016, and Bahraini women own about %39 of individual business records until August of the year 2016. Moreover, Bahraini women have succeeded in occupying leading positions in the private sector institutions as a Chief Executive Officer, a Chairperson of the Board of Directors and a member of the Board of Directors as well. Four women have even managed to win the elections run for Bahrain Chamber of Commerce & Industry Board of Directors in 2014 with a percentage of %22. Ever since, Bahraini women have begun to engage in new areas of business they have never participated in before such as: driving taxis, driving training and jewellery industry. Some indicators also have showed that the percentage of women participating in public and private education reaches about %50.

• Governmental bodies have formed equal opportunities committees, to be in charge of fulfilling the needs and demand of women as part of the framework of equal opportunities in all areas and fields of work. These committees also seek to attain the principle of equal opportunities among all employees and beneficiaries in terms of the services provided by that those bodies in coordination with the Supreme Council for Women. In addition, the committees are entitled to give opinions on issues related to the integration of women's needs as a step for providing equal opportunities for both genders. After the issuance of the instructions of the Civil Service Bureau No. (4) of 2014 regarding the institution of equal opportunities committees in the government sector; forty-five equal opportunities committees have been established by different governmental institutions.

• Equal Opportunities Committees specialize in setting controls, standards and plans needed for adopting the principles of equal opportunities and achieving full integration of women’s needs to be implemented under supervision. These committees also provide the necessary consultations in coordination with the Supreme Council for Women and the Civil Service Bureau when needed and regarding the terms of specialization stipulated by the laws and regulations of the civil service in the following areas:

• Promoting equal opportunities for employees of agencies in recruitment, training, scholarship and career advancement, and ensuring that the needs of female workers are taken into account.

• Considering the women's needs and demands within the framework of equal opportunities in the policies, plans and budget of government agencies.

• Improving the potential and capabilities of employees in the field of integrating female workers’ needs for maintaining equal opportunities.

• Enhancing the position of women and preparing suitable work environments for them to help overcome obstacles and difficulties facing the adoption of the principle of equal opportunities in government agencies.

• Supporting the efforts of the Supreme Council for Women exerted in the fields of maintenance of equal opportunities and integration of women’s needs in the programs of government agencies set in the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women.

• Adopting the principle of equal opportunity for all beneficiaries of the services provided by government agencies.

In addition, the Ministry of Labour has adopted and implemented several initiatives for encouraging recruitment of women and enhancing the means of their integration into the labour market, some of these initiatives are:

1. Provide financial support for the employment of women in the private sector up to %50 of the monthly salary paid for a period of two years.
2. Create job vacancies for females in the labour market.
3. Implement specialized training programs for qualifying female workers to successfully occupy the required professions in the labour market.
4. Hold job fairs dedicated only to employ females in the labour market.
5. Provide companies and employers with additional benefits when hiring female workers and help support their stability in the labour market.
6. Acknowledge the woman’s right of obtaining part-time work (four to six hours per day) while enjoying all other rights and privileges specified in the labour law of the private sector and other laws such as annual leave, social insurance, health work conditions… etc.