First female justice: Catching up with times Wednesday, 28 April 2010 21:12

Qatari women today have filled the roles of government ministers, doctors, university professors, and lawyers. Yet the latest role a Qatari woman has achieved has resulted in provoking defiance, as she was appointed an intern in the judiciary as an Associate Justice.

Amongst the criticism were attacks on women’s mental and intellectual capacities, underestimations of their ability to withstand the competing demands of maternal and marital duties with requirements of their jobs. Finally, some consider appointment of a female to this particular position to be a violation of Shari’iah, having forgotten that there are women in Muslim countries that have filled this position, some of whom are in the GCC.

On the 6th of June in 2006, the King of Bahrain issued a decree appointing the Bahraini Mona Jassim Al-Kuwari as a judge in the High Civil Court, where she became the first GCC woman to fill this position.  In March of 2008, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, issued a decree approving the appointment of Emarati female Kholoud Ahmad Jouan Al-Dhaheri to the post of judge on the primary category III Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, followed by last week’s appointment made by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid of the first female judge in Dubai .

Those who consider the post of Judge in terms of gender, assuming that women are too weak or less capable to fulfill this duty, clearly don’t realize the extent of women’s capacities. In my opinion, there is no greater challenge than for a woman to serve in the police, military, or air force. Who I am referring to within these three positions are not (with all due respect to our national policewomen) just secondary, companionship roles, but those who are patroling the streets of New York and Chicago, where violence, gangs, and weaponry are as widespread as mobiles phones. There were women serving in the military in the height of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, surrounded by blood, terror, and death.

Women are women, and whatever a Western woman can achieve, so can a Bedouin one, as efficiently and courageously. Their physical and mental characteristics are one and the same. When a female surgeon stands in the operating room for sixteen hours to conduct a critical procedure on the brain, the theory that women spend their idle time at work, counting the hours to get home to complete household chores is unacceptable!
When a woman jumps out of an aircraft by parachute to land in a place where her fate is unknown, she puts her whole life on the line. She doesn’t allow herself to fall into the stereotype of women’s places being confined to the kitchen.

As for the legitimacy of women fulfilling judiciary roles, this does not eliminate, degrade, or threaten men’s capabilities. This is a role where women must start from scratch, and not just all of them, but the most highly qualified in particular. Our country is small; the number of women who possess the qualifications to be appointed as judiciary interns is limited, and confined further to those with the social and familial circumstances that allow them to pursue such a role. Especially considering that Qatari and GCC women are not bestowed with the same liberties as other women in the world, as they are not free to act independently but are pawns of their families and husbands. The Qatari woman endeavours to prove her capabilities, determination, drive, education, patience, and efforts; not to provoke others or defy them. Rather, she is searching for her identity, and demands her rights in the process. Please support her instead of extinguishing her dreams, for they are all she possesses.

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