A family law for Shi'ites topped the list of proposals to be submitted by the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) and women's groups to the National Dialogue.

Other recommendations include a law to protect women against family violence, a quota for more women in parliament and the Shura Council as well as an amendment to the Citizenship Law to give men and women equal rights with respect to the nationality of their children.

The list of recommendations was drawn up at a seminar held by the council in co-operation with the Bahrain Women's Union at the Gulf Hotel on Wednesday.

It was held parallel to the National Dialogue mainly to discuss the importance of a Family Law for Shi'ites and to draw up a list of recommendations that could be presented to His Majesty King Hamad through the Dialogue.

Several Shi'ite women who had been affected because the country lacked a Family Law for Jaffaris spoke about their suffering at the event.

Sunni women, who had benefited from the introduction of the Family Law for Sunnis in 2009, also shared their experiences.

A similar law for Shiite women was vetoed by Al Wefaq at the time.

Participants agreed at the meeting that the Family Law would ensure that women were better protected, especially in alimony, custody and divorce cases.

Children and Mother's Welfare Society president and National Dialogue participant Shaikha Hind bint Salman Al Khalifa told the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication that many women, children and families were suffering because they didn't have a Family Law.

She called for the second part of the Family Law for Shi'ites to be approved.

The Sunni section was issued in June 2009 and implemented in July the same year, but the legal rights of women are still limited due to the absence of the Jaffari section of the law.

'I personally support having the second part of the Family Law for the protection of the family, women's rights and children,' said Shaikha Hind.

'The new law (for Sunnis) reduced waiting time (for cases to be resolved), but we can only assess by research being carried out by the SCW. The main outcome is to benefit the family.'

Bahrain Women's Union member Fatima Al Rabea said having the second part of the Family Law would make sure families were better protected, especially in alimony, custody and divorce cases.

'Because they don't have a Family Law, the courts take a long time and women get granted very little alimony like BD30 or BD50 a month,' she said.

'If we have the Family Law for all, they will get better treatment and money.'

Al Rabea added that many women were struggling financially and more needed to be done to tackle unemployment among graduates and those below graduate level.

She said the union wanted reservations on the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women to be lifted.

Al Rabea said the reservation on Article 9, paragraph 2 that provides that 'State Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children' should be lifted and the Citizenship Law amended.

'The Citizenship Law must be changed to give women and men equality in giving their nationality to their children,' she said.

Al Rabea called for the Family Violence Protection Law that was currently being reviewed by parliament to be speeded up. 'This law must be passed to punish men who beat their wives,' she said.

'Now, if the wife is beaten, she goes to the police station but nothing happens, so the beating happens again and again. We want this law to be passed fast,' she added.

Al Rabea said the union wanted Bahrain to introduce a law to give women no less than 30 per cent of posts in parliament and Shura Council in accordance with international agreements signed by Bahrain.

'We want 30pc of parliament and Shura to be for women because until now many of the female candidates have not been elected to parliament,' she said.

'The main problem is how society thinks about women, some believe that women shouldn't be in these positions, but if the election law is changed it will be more helpful for women.'

SCW women's support centre head Dr Dunya Ahmed said the aim of the recommendations was to raise awareness about women's issues in all areas, including social, economic and political.

'We are raising these issues and statistics about every file, so we will listen to all recommendations and a list will be sent to the Dialogue,' Dr Ahmed stated.

'The recommendations will be put together by the council and union, so it will be all that has been agreed between the official side and the non-governmental organisations,' she added.-TradeArabia News Service