Kuwaiti Women's guest appearances

Kuwaiti Women

The History Hour

Human Rights a Day

Witness History: Witness Archive 2017

Maurice Papon

Charlie Chaplin

George Wallace

Margaret Thatcher

Alexander Hamilton

Salman Rushdie

Huckleberry Finn

Gianni Versace

Ezekiel Hart

Billie Jean King

Vera Brittain

Dred Scott

Rosalind Franklin

John F. Kennedy

Anita Hill

OwlTail

Kuwaiti women demand the right to vote.   Formal attempts to grant Kuwaiti women the vote began in 1971, following a conference on women’s issues. That bill to the legislative assembly failed as did other bills introduced in 1981, 1986, 1992 and 1996. A coalition of 22 non-governmental organizations made up the Women’s Issues Network, a group that organized various campaigns to put pressure on the government. After years of failed attempts, coalition members gathered by the hundreds on Sunday, February 17, 2002 to protest outside two voter registration centres. Although they were turned away, it marked Kuwaiti women’s first attempt at taking grievances to the streets in protest. The women had the Kuwaiti constitution on their side; it gives various guarantees of equality for all persons of Kuwait. Unfortunately, it seems to be contradicted by Article 1 of Law No. 35/1962 of the Election Law, which specifically denies women the vote and the right to run for public office. Every attempt to challenge the law was dismissed by the courts and tribunals for many years. Then came a move that stunned almost everyone in the country. On May 16, 2005, while the all-male Parliament was considering giving Kuwaiti women the right to run in municipal elections, the government cabinet ministers proposed amending the election laws to allow women to vote and run in local and parliamentary elections – and it passed. However, with one month’s notice, Kuwait’s emir, Sheik Sabah al-Ahmad as-Sabah, dissolved Parliament and called the election for June 29, 2006, a full year early. This caught women off guard. With no political experience or backing, the election results saw tens of thousands of women voting for the first time, yet electing no women to Parliament. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kuwaiti women demand the right to vote. Formal attempts to grant Kuwaiti women the vote began in 1971, following a conference on women’s issues. That bill to the legislative assembly failed as did other bills introduced in 1981, 1986, 1992 and 1996. A coalition of 22 non-governmental organizations made up the Women’s Issues Network, a group that organized various campaigns to put pressure on the government. After years of failed attempts, coalition members gathered by the hundreds on Sunday, February 17, 2002 to protest outside two voter registration centres. Although they were turned away, it marked Kuwaiti women’s first attempt at taking grievances to the streets in protest. The women had the Kuwaiti constitution on their side; it gives various guarantees of equality for all persons of Kuwait. Unfortunately, it seems to be contradicted by Article 1 of Law No. 35/1962 of the Election Law, which specifically denies women the vote and the right to run for public office. Every attempt to challenge the law was dismissed by the courts and tribunals for many years. Then came a move that stunned almost everyone in the country. On May 16, 2005, while the all-male Parliament was considering giving Kuwaiti women the right to run in municipal elections, the government cabinet ministers proposed amending the election laws to allow women to vote and run in local and parliamentary elections – and it passed. However, with one month’s notice, Kuwait’s emir, Sheik Sabah al-Ahmad as-Sabah, dissolved Parliament and called the election for June 29, 2006, a full year early. This caught women off guard. With no political experience or backing, the election results saw tens of thousands of women voting for the first time, yet electing no women to Parliament. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

February 17, 2002 - Kuwaiti Women

Women in Kuwait win the right to vote, and the only women on the front line on the Western Front in World War One; battling smog in Mexico City in the 1980s, the artist Georgia O'Keeffe, and America's first incident of Islamic terror forty years ago.Photo: the first women candidates for parliamentary elections in Kuwait in 2006, Aisha al-Rashid (R) and Rola Dashti (C) (Credit: Yasser al-Zayya/AFP/Getty Images)

Women in Kuwait win the right to vote, and the only women on the front line on the Western Front in World War One; battling smog in Mexico City in the 1980s, the artist Georgia O'Keeffe, and America's first incident of Islamic terror forty years ago. Photo: the first women candidates for parliamentary elections in Kuwait in 2006, Aisha al-Rashid (R) and Rola Dashti (C) (Credit: Yasser al-Zayya/AFP/Getty Images)

Kuwaiti Women Secure the Vote

On 7 March 2005 a group of women held an unprecedented rally outside the Kuwaiti parliament. They were trying to force the all-male body to change the electoral law. Two months later they succeeded. Zeinab Dabaa has been hearing from Rola Dashti, one of the organisers of the protest, who later became one of the first women to be elected to her country's legislature.(Photo: Kuwaiti candidates for the 2006 parliamentary election, Aisha al-Rashid (R) and Rola Dashti (C), the first ever women to be allowed to stand for office Credit: Yasser al-Zayya/AFP/Getty Images)

On 7 March 2005 a group of women held an unprecedented rally outside the Kuwaiti parliament. They were trying to force the all-male body to change the electoral law. Two months later they succeeded. Zeinab Dabaa has been hearing from Rola Dashti, one of the organisers of the protest, who later became one of the first women to be elected to her country's legislature. (Photo: Kuwaiti candidates for the 2006 parliamentary election, Aisha al-Rashid (R) and Rola Dashti (C), the first ever women to be allowed to stand for office Credit: Yasser al-Zayya/AFP/Getty Images)