Kuwait: Womens' Political Journey

From Nisreen Zahreddine @ Kuwait Times:

MP Maasouma Al-Mubarak recently gave a speech at the British Business Forum's annual gathering, which was hosted by the British Embassy. MP Al-Mubarak touched on the history of Kuwait and the role of the United Kingdom in designing the borders between Kuwait and Iraq.

The parliamentarian said that in 1913, the British helped Kuwait separate from Iraq by signing a treaty with the Ottoman Empire that considered Kuwait a part of Iraq.

In 1932, Al-Mubarak continued, a second treaty was signed to design borders between Kuwait and Iraq. The MP then briefed the audience about women's history in Kuwait. She discussed several obstacles facing women's progress in Kuwaiti society, such as a backward mentality and limited employment opportunities in addition to all the norms and traditions that see the role of women to be limited to the house and raising children. She added that women were forced to pay the high price of social customs and traditions that control the society.