Women in Bahrain are known to play more of a role in public life than in most neighboring countries. They drive, vote, and some are active in politics.
So it was no surprise to find on arriving here that Bahraini women were also prominent in protests. During a recent demonstration outside the U.N. office in Manama, women, most of them wearing black abayas, stood apart from male peers, carrying pictures of men who they say had been tortured and signs asking for global support.
Noura, 24, was one of the few women not wearing a head scarf. “I am here because Bahrain has to change,” she proclaimed, though boldness in baring her head did not extend to being identified by full name. “For years now, the Khalifas are dividing the power among themselves,” she said, adding that she was Sunni like the ruling family, but that the Bahraini news media very often report that the protesters are all Shiite. “There are Sunni people like me criticizing the fact that most of the minister posts and important positions are in the hands of one family,” she insisted.
Read more in New York Times, published 20. December
Women in Bahrain are known to play more of a role in public life than in most neighboring countries. They drive, vote, and some are active in politics.
So it was no surprise to find on arriving here that Bahraini women were also prominent in protests. During a recent demonstration outside the U.N. office in Manama, women, most of them wearing black abayas, stood apart from male peers, carrying pictures of men who they say had been tortured and signs asking for global support.
Noura, 24, was one of the few women not wearing a head scarf. “I am here because Bahrain has to change,” she proclaimed, though boldness in baring her head did not extend to being identified by full name. “For years now, the Khalifas are dividing the power among themselves,” she said, adding that she was Sunni like the ruling family, but that the Bahraini news media very often report that the protesters are all Shiite. “There are Sunni people like me criticizing the fact that most of the minister posts and important positions are in the hands of one family,” she insisted.
Read more in New York Times, published 20. December