Women in Qatar

Women in Qatar
	Shaikha Khalaf Al Mohammed, Mehbubeh Akhlaghi and Bahiya Al-Hamad of the Qatar women's national rifle team celebrate their medals at the 2011 Pan Arab Games
General Statistics
Maternal mortality (per 100,000)	7 (2010)
Women in parliament	0.1% (2013)
Women over 25 with secondary education	66.7% (2012)
Women in labour force	50.8% (2012)
Gender Inequality Index
Value	0.220 (2021)
Rank	54th out of 191
Global Gender Gap Index
Value	0.617 (2022)
Rank	137th out of 146

Women's rights in Qatar are restricted by the country's male guardianship law^[3] - currently the only remaining country in the Gulf region with such laws^[4] - and influenced by the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam.^[5] Both women and men were enfranchised in the country at the same time.^[6] Labour force participation rates of Qatari women are above the world average and among the highest in the Arab World,^[7] which comes mainly as a result of an increasing number of Qatari women who are attaining academic degrees.^[8]

There is limited mixing between the sexes and Qatari women in public are largely expected to wear traditional clothing which typically consists of an abaya and shayla, both of which partially conceal their appearance. Mouza Al Malki, a psychologist, claims that gender separation is influenced more by cultural factors than religious factors.^[9] Women in Qatar must obtain permission from their male guardians to marry, study abroad on government scholarships, work in many government jobs, travel abroad until certain ages, receive some forms of reproductive health care and to act as a child's primary guardian, even when they are divorced.^[10]

^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
^ "Global Gender Gap Report 2022" (PDF). World Economic Forum. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
^ "Qatar: Events of 2018". World Report 2019: Qatar – Human Rights Watch. www.hrw.org. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
^ "Qatar only remaining GCC country restricting travel for women". Al Arabiya English. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
^ Dorsey, James M. "Qatar's Challenge to Saudi Arabia: An alternative view of Wahhabism". academia.edu. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
^ Cite error: The named reference Lambert2011a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference theworldbank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference fanar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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^ "Qatar: Male Guardianship Severely Curtails Women's Rights". Human Rights Watch. 29 March 2021.

[1] "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS. Retrieved 14 November 2022.

[2] "Global Gender Gap Report 2022" (PDF). World Economic Forum. Retrieved 1 March 2023.

[3] "Qatar: Events of 2018". World Report 2019: Qatar – Human Rights Watch. www.hrw.org. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.

[4] "Qatar only remaining GCC country restricting travel for women". Al Arabiya English. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2023.

[5] Dorsey, James M. "Qatar's Challenge to Saudi Arabia: An alternative view of Wahhabism". academia.edu. Retrieved 29 December 2014.

[Lambert2011a-6] Cite error: The named reference Lambert2011a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[theworldbank-7] Cite error: The named reference theworldbank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[fanar-8] Cite error: The named reference fanar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[ABC-9] Cite error: The named reference ABC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[10] "Qatar: Male Guardianship Severely Curtails Women's Rights". Human Rights Watch. 29 March 2021.

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