13/5/2009
(Beirut) - Bahrain's revision of its restrictive kafala (sponsorship) system will dramatically improve the status of most migrant workers and reduce their risk of exploitation, Human Rights Watch said today. But the protections should be extended to migrant domestic workers, who are especially vulnerable to employer abuse, Human Rights Watch said.

Nondiscrimination and Access to Justice: 2.2
Autonomy, Security, and Freedom of the Person: 2.6
Economic Rights and Equal Opportunity: 3.1
Political Rights and Civic Voice: 2.3
Social and Cultural Rights: 2.9
(On a scale of 1-5, with 1 representing the least rights and 5 representing the most rights available)

INTRODUCTION

ARTICLE 19 has written to Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, King of Bahrain, asking him to ensure that women’s rights activist, Ghada Jamsheer, is protected from harassment and guaranteed her right to free expression.

Jamsheer is leader of the Women’s Petition Committee which works to protect women and advocate for improved women’s rights in the country’s sharia courts. She has been repeatedly harassed in the course of her work and has been effectively banned from the country’s media since 2007.

The Situation
of Women Migrant Domestic Workers in Bahrain

Report submitted to the 42nd session of the CEDAW Committee
October 2008

Table of contents
I. Introduction 3
1. Overview of the major violations of women's rights in Bahrain 3
2. The particular vulnerability of women migrant domestic workers 3

II. The situation of women migrant domestic workers 5
1. Lack of legal protection and the kafala system 5
2. Violence against women migrant domestic workers 7
3. Lack of access to justice 7
4. Trafficking 10

III. Recommendations 12

IV. Annex 14
1. Relevant provisions of CEDAW 14
2. Sources 16

2009/01/17 -
Front Line is deeply concerned following information received regarding an alleged harassment campaign against Ghada Jamsheer, a woman human rights defender. Ghada Jamsheer is the president of the Women's Petition Committee, an organisation which campaigns for the rights and dignity of women in the shari'ah family courts.

Human Rights watch -Bahrain
Events of 2008
Human rights conditions in Bahrain deteriorated in 2008. Despite the important reforms that the king, Shaikh Hamad bin `Isa al-Khalifa, adopted in 2001-02, the government has done little to institutionalize human rights protections in law. The government continues to subject freedom of expression, assembly, and association to arbitrary restrictions. People detained after demonstrators and security forces clashed in Manama in December 2007 alleged they were tortured.

Coalition Equality Without Reservation
Bahrain Women Union
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Bahrain Human Rights Society
International Federation for Human Rights

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Press release

Bahrain: Urgent measures required to combat discrimination against women

Congress to Discuss Religious Freedom in Bahrain Wednesday
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following letter by Reps. Frank R. Wolf, James P. McGovern and Trent Franks is being redistributed today by Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain:

Dear Colleague,

By BEGENA P PRADEEP
Published: 20th October 2008

BAHRAIN's bureaucratic legal system is discouraging expatriates from filing cases against their sponsors, claims a human rights report.

The Situation of Women Migrant Domestic Workers, compiled by the Bahrain Centre of Human Rights (BCHR), points out that Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) has been unsuccessful at resolving cases against sponsors in the courts.

The report also documents major problems faced by women in Bahrain, the problem of the existing sponsorship system and the need for a comprehensive labour law.