Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) governments are meeting the challenge of providing affordable housing for low- and average-income nationals through some bold initiatives and strategies. But women still face discrimination under most GCC regulations for getting land, housing or interest-free construction loans.
Although international conventions recognise the right of all human beings to equal access to land and housing, including women and those living in poverty, women in the GCC countries still face legal and social discrimination in their access to housing, as they are not granted the same rights as men to the affordable housing services provided by their governments. Gender discrepancies are emanating from the patriarchal system favouring men over women and giving priority to adult males in housing distribution. Some GCC governments have acknowledged the problem and issued new legislative and administrative reforms to improve the access of poor, divorced and widowed women to affordable housing, but these measures don’t go far enough.
The Bahrain Ministry of Housing does not grant women the same rights as men for getting housing units or receiving loans to purchase housing. Bahraini women are granted houses from the government only if they are widowed or divorced with custody of their children. New amendments in 2004 to the Housing Law granted housing services for working women with stable incomes supporting their family and with no real estate. However, this only partially benefits women as they still need their husbands’ permission to request assistance to own a housing unit, which they may not be entitled to in the case of divorce.
