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“Everything I Have to Do Is Tied to a Man” Women and Qatar’S Male Guardianship Rules

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“Everything I Have to Do Is Tied to a Man” Women and Qatar’S Male Guardianship Rules HUMAN “Everything I Have to Do RIGHTS WATCH is Tied to a Man” Women and Qatar’s Male Guardianship Rules “Everything I Have to Do is Tied to a Man” Women and Qatar’s Male Guardianship Rules Copyright © 2021 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62313-897-4 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org MARCH 2021 ISBN: 978-1-62313-897-4 “Everything I Have to Do is Tied to a Man” Women and Qatar’s Male Guardianship Rules Summary ......................................................................................................................... 1 Qatar’s Male Guardianship Rules ............................................................................................. 2 Key Recommendations ................................................................................................... 10 To Qatari Authorities ............................................................................................................... 10 Methodology .................................................................................................................. 11 I. Background ................................................................................................................ 13 Male Guardianship in Qatar .................................................................................................... 13 Male Guardianship as a Concept ............................................................................................. 18 Restrictions on Civic Space for Qatari Women ........................................................................ 20 II. Discrimination in Marriage and Divorce ...................................................................... 24 Right to Marry ......................................................................................................................... 25 Obedience Provisions within Marriage ................................................................................... 29 Obstacles to Obtaining a Divorce ............................................................................................ 31 Residence and Guardianship of Children ................................................................................ 33 Violations of Children’s Rights to Education and Health Care ................................................... 38 III. Restrictions on Women’s Right to Education ............................................................. 42 Study Abroad ......................................................................................................................... 43 Studying in Qatar .................................................................................................................... 45 Restrictions at Qatar University ............................................................................................... 47 IV. Restrictions on Women’s Right to Work ..................................................................... 52 Male Guardian Permission to Work ......................................................................................... 53 Guardian Permission for Foreign Women to Work .................................................................... 58 V. Restrictions on Traveling Abroad ................................................................................ 60 Exit Permits ............................................................................................................................ 61 Travel Bans ............................................................................................................................. 67 VI. Restrictions on Movement within Qatar ..................................................................... 69 Driving ................................................................................................................................... 70 Booking a Hotel Room ............................................................................................................ 73 Renting an Apartment and Connecting Utilities ....................................................................... 75 VII. Restrictions on Women’s Access to Health Care ....................................................... 78 Prenatal, Obstetric, Postnatal and Fertility Health Care ........................................................... 80 Other Sexual and Reproductive Health Care ........................................................................... 84 VIII. Recommendations ................................................................................................. 88 To the Prime Minister ............................................................................................................. 88 To the Council of Ministers and the Shura Council .................................................................. 88 To the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs .............................. 89 To the Ministry of Interior ....................................................................................................... 90 To the Ministry of Education and Higher Education ................................................................. 92 To the Ministry of Public Health .............................................................................................. 92 To the Ministry of Energy Affairs .............................................................................................. 93 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... 94 Appendix I: Exit Permit for Qataris on Metrash2 App ...................................................... 95 Appendix II: No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for Driving License on Metrash2 app ........... 96 Appendix III: Decision to Lift Male Guardian Permission Requirements for Driving Licenses ...................................................................................................................................... 97 Summary For girls - you are [constantly] in quarantine. What the whole world experiences now, this is the normal life for girls [in Qatar]. I wanted to study abroad but it was a no from my parents, even though I had a scholarship. —“Asma,” a 40-year-old Qatari woman, June 16, 2020 Women in Qatar have broken barriers and achieved significant progress, including in education where there are now more female than male graduates, and as doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs in one of the world’s richest states per capita. Yet they continue to face deep discrimination in almost all aspects of their lives. Noof Al Maadeed, age 21, decided to leave her home country Qatar after years of domestic abuse and restrictions on her movements: “[I was] only allowed to go to school and back. Anything else [and I] can expect a beating.” At one point, she felt her life and physical integrity were at risk. But she could not just leave. Qatari government rules prohibit unmarried Qatari women under age 25 from traveling outside the country without the permission of their male guardian: typically, their father, brother, uncle or grandfather. A married woman can travel abroad without her husband’s permission, but her husband can apply to a court to ban her travel. On November 12, 2019, Noof secretly took her father’s phone, tapped the government’s Metrash app and processed the exit permit that would allow her to leave the country. She then climbed out her bedroom window to go to the airport. With her exit permit, she flew first to Ukraine and then to the United Kingdom where she sought asylum. While stories of Qatari women seeking international refuge are rare, the discrimination they face is systemic. It is not just travel that is restricted. Women must obtain permission from their male guardians—who may be fathers, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, and, when married, their husbands—to exercise many of their basic rights, including to marry, obtain a government scholarship to pursue higher education, work in many government jobs, and obtain some reproductive health care. Women also cannot act as guardians to make choices about their 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MARCH 2021 children’s lives. At the root of these discriminatory rules are laws, policies, and practices that deem men as heads of households and as legal and social guardians of women. Women in Qatar are pushing back, becoming more vocal about their rights online, despite the restricted civic space. In August 2019, several Qatari women tweeted from an anonymized account about how Qatar continues to impose male guardianship rules. They were inspired after Saudi Arabia enacted some reforms to its draconian male guardianship system as a result of Saudi women’s rights activists' demands and international pressure. But
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