Bahrain

Council of Representatives Shura Council

Shura Council

Political system: Monarchy
Structure of parliament: Bicameral
IPU membership: Yes

Data on women

Information on the current and historical representation of women in the parliament. Consult the 'Elections' tab to see how women have fared in elections or renewals.

Current representation

Women's representation in the current parliament or chamber

Current number of members: 40
Women: 10
Percentage of women: 25.0%

Speaker

No information available

Secretary general

Secretary General: Kareema Alabbasi (Female)

Chairs of specialized bodies

Specialized body	Theme	Name	Sex	Age
Woman and Child Committee	Gender equality	Dr. Fatima Abduljabar Al Kooheji	Female	-

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2022-11)

Breakdown of members by age and gender
	18 - 20	21 - 30	31 - 40	41 - 45	46 - 50	51 - 60	61 - 70	71 - 80	81 - 90	91 and over	Totals per gender
Male	0	0	0	3	3	5	7	8	4	0	30
Female	0	0	0	0	1	3	3	2	1	0	10
Totals per age interval	0	0	0	3	4	8	10	10	5	0	40
	Total <= 45: 3				Total >= 46: 37

Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal	Overall	Male	Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger	0.0%	0%	0.0%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger	7.5%	8%	0.0%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups: No
Electoral quota for women: No

First woman in parliament

Year of first woman in parliament: 2002

Notes: 2002: The first woman to be elected to Parliament was in 2006 to the Lower House.

First woman speaker

Year of first woman speaker: 2018

Women’s suffrage

Date of independence: 1971

Women’s right to vote: 1951
Restricted or universal suffrage: No information available

Women’s right to vote: 1973
Restricted or universal suffrage: Restricted

Women’s right to vote: 2002
Restricted or universal suffrage: Universal

Notes: Women voted in 2001 for the referendum on the New Constitution, which came into being in 2002 and confirmed women's suffrage. Prior to independence, women were given the right to vote for municipal councils in 1951. According to the Constitution (6 December 1973), all citizens are equal before the law; however the Electoral Law that was adopted as a follow up, did not recognize women's suffrage. Women were consequently not able to exercise electoral rights in the only legislative elections held in Bahrain in December 1973.

Women's right to stand for election: 1973
Restricted or universal: Universal

Women's right to stand for election: 1999
Restricted or universal: Universal

Women's right to stand for election: 2002
Restricted or universal: Universal

Notes: Women voted in 2001 for the referendum on the New Constitution, which came into being in 2002 and confirmed women's suffrage. According to the Constitution (6 December 1973), all citizens are equal before the law; however the Electoral Law that was adopted as a follow up, did not recognize women's suffrage. Women were consequently not able to exercise electoral rights in the only legislative elections held in Bahrain in December 1973. In 1999, women were allowed to stand for election for municipal councils, which they had been able to vote for since 1951.

Women's caucus

Women's caucuses or parliamentary groups that bring together women parliamentarians to strengthen cooperation and amplify their voices. For other parliamentary bodies or committees that have a specific mandate to address gender equality matters, see the ‘Specialized body – Gender equality’ tab.

There is currently no women's caucus in this chamber.

Updated at	Percentage of women
2022-11	25.0%
2014-12	22.5%
2010-11	27.5%
2006-01	25.0%
2002-10	15.0%