Women in Kuwait

Women in the pre-oil era

From the 17th century until the discovery of oil in the 1950s, the economy of Kuwait was largely dependent on maritime trade. While men were seafaring, Kuwait’s women managed their homes, and controlled family affairs and finances. For those families that could afford it, houses were built with a courtyard and a harem where women spent most of their time. This structure, along with high windows and doors that faced into the house rather than the street, removed women from public vision. Urban, upper-class women’s participation in the public sphere was limited. However, women from less fortunate circumstances had a much less secluded experience; they went to the suq on a daily basis, fetched drinking water and washed their families’ clothes on the beach. Kuwaiti girls began learning scripture in 1916 when the first Quran school was established. After this many women of modest means began working as religious instructors. The first private school opened in 1926; it taught reading, writing, and embroidery. Public schooling began in 1937 though enrollment in it was low for some time; however, by the 1940s many young Kuwaiti women were enrolled in primary school. It was often women themselves who pushed for these educational advances and opportunities and in 1956 a group of young women burned their abayyas to protest their right to go abroad to study.

Employment

The participation of Kuwaiti women in the labor force is much higher than the regional GCC average, Kuwait has the highest percentage of working female citizens in the GCC. Kuwaiti women outnumber men in the workforce.

In 2013, 53% of Kuwaiti women participated in the labor force. Kuwait's labor force participation rate for Kuwaiti women is much higher than the MENA average.

Organizations and activism

Women’s activism in Kuwait began in the 1950s. The first women’s organization, the Arab Women’s Renaissance Association (later changed to the Family Renaissance Association), was established by Noureya Al-Saddani in 1962 and was soon followed by the Women’s Cultural and Social Society in February 1963. The Girls Club (Nadi Alfatat) was established in 1975, its initial focus was on women in sport. In 1981 Bayader As-Salam, a religious group whose objective was cultural awareness, was formed. The same year Sheikha Latifa Al-Sabah’s Islamic Care Association was established, it sought to spread Islam and an Islamic lifestyle and conduct.

Kuwaiti women played a large role in resisting the Iraqi invasion in 1990. They mobilized the opposition, started an underground resistance paper called “al-Kuwaitiya”, passed weapons and ammunition through Iraqi checkpoints, transported and planted explosives using abayas, collected and distributed food and medicine, and ran shelters for the sick and disabled. During the invasion they also organized a large demonstration in defiance of the invasion, which cost some of them their lives. Women became active in Islamist groups in the 1980s when Islamism was on the rise in Kuwait. Through their early activity in these groups, many women acquired organizational skills which they were able to utilize in the campaign for suffrage.

Women in the arts

Kuwait’s long tradition of artistic expression has been spearheaded and organized by women. Women’s involvement in the fine arts dates back to at least 1969 when Najat Sultan along with her brother Ghazi established the Sultan Gallery, which served as a propagator for contemporary and secular movements in Arab art. The gallery was shut after the Iraqi invasion and reopened in 2006 by Farida Sultan. It currently focuses on contemporary photography. Sheikha Hussah Al Sabah established Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah in 1983, and Dar al-Funoon gallery for contemporary art in 1992.

Contemporary artists include: Thuraya al Baqsami, who trained in Cairo and Moscow whose works can be found in museums worldwide; Shurooq Amin, whose subversive art pieces aim to challenge perceptions of society in the Gulf; Fatima Al Qadiri (member of Future Brown), an artist, musician and composer whose work is inspired by her experience in the Gulf War; Monira Al Qadiri, whose art explores gender and religious and cultural identities.; and Nada Al Shammari, award winning documentary filmmaker, documenting the contribution of women to contemporary culture and society in the Gulf Sates with 'Trailblazing Women in the History of Kuwait' and 'Trailblazing Women in Science and Technology'.

Political participation

The women's suffrage campaign started in 1971 when a group led by Noureya Al-Saddani took a proposal to parliament to grant women political rights. The proposal was rejected. In the early 1990s, women campaigned heavily for the vote; they held protests outside of election headquarters and between 2000 and 2005 a number of women filed court cases against the Minister of Interior for his refusal to include women in election tables. In 2004 women demonstrated inside the parliament hall for the vote, and a year later they held one of the largest demonstrations in Kuwait’s history.

In 1999, the Emir Sheikh Jaber Al-Sabah promulgated a decree granting women suffrage after the parliament was dissolved, however, it was overturned by the new parliament just months later by two-votes difference. Kuwaiti women were granted the right to vote in May 2005. Women voted for the first time in June 2006, and in these elections 28 women ran out of a pool of 250 candidates though none won. Almost exactly four years after women were given full political rights, four were elected into parliament for the first time. The winners in the 2009 elections were: Massouma Al Mubarak (the first Kuwaiti woman appointed to the cabinet), Aseel Al Awadhi, Rola Dashti, and Salwa Al Jassar. In 2011, Kuwait was ranked highest of all Arab countries in gender equality in the Human Development Report's Gender Inequality Index.

Notable Kuwaiti women

Non-national women

Kuwait has a very high percentage of expatriates. Many Egyptian, Palestinian, Filipino and Southeast Asian women live in Kuwait. Palestinian women have worked in Kuwait since the 1950s, historically as teachers in girls’ schools. Nearly 90% of Kuwaiti households employ a foreigner worker, most often a South Asian woman. These women's labor is crucial to the social reproduction of Kuwait, though they occupy a marginal status and are not granted state protection or oversight. Non-Nationals are subject to residence and labor laws, which prevent them from permanently settling in Kuwait. Under the kafala system, whereby all migrants must have a citizen who sponsors their residence in Kuwait, many migrant workers cannot leave or enter the country without their employer’s permission and are often exploited.