An Islamist member of the Bahraini Parliament said yesterday he has proposed a motion to segregate the sexes in the class rooms of the kingdom’s national university. The proposal aims to "allow women to continue their high education without any harassment," MP Jassim Al Saidi told Gulf News. The Bahraini Parliament, elected in October 2002, is dominated by Islamists who control up to 22 of the house 40 seats. Bahrain is considered one of the most open and multicultural societies in the Middle East where most people lead a Western life style. But the constitution states Bahrain is a Muslim country, Al Saidi argued. "And according to the Islamic Sharia, men and women sexes must not mingle in public places," he said. He claimed the desegregation of the sexes at the university denied "thousands of women" the chance to progress.
"This bill doesn’t make any sense," commented Dr Anissa Fakhro, an education expert and social commentator. "It seems that these people have yet to realise that we are living in the 21st century," she added. Anissa’s latest book is called The Psychological and Social Tendencies of the Bahraini Youth. In the book, she argues that mixing the sexes in at schools "helps create a more tolerant and less violent generation." "Based on the interviews I had with hundreds of students from both segregated and desegregated schools, those who have been studying since elementary level at mixed schools tend to have less psychological and social tensions. They look at the members of the other sex as equals," she explained. |