UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 32) As part of outreach activities to protect women and children, the Qatar Foundation for the Protection of Women and Children has continued to combat discrimination against women by promoting a culture of women's rights and equality of opportunity. It has done so through a number of programmes, including by: ... Holding seminars, workshops and conducting campaigns to combat sexual violence against women and to raise the awareness of women and society in order to address and tackle anomalous practices, in addition to developing the legal and procedural systems in order to ensure that women enjoy comprehensive, integrated protection.

Para 59: Qatar Foundation for the Protection of Women and Children has conducted a number of skills training courses for security sector personnel (officers and investigators) of various ranks on dealing with cases of abuse and violence against children or women.

Para 66) In the context of strengthening the legal measures aimed at combating domestic violence, sexual assault and the exploitation of women and children and ensuring that those measures are implemented effectively, Qatar has adopted various legislative, policy and strategic measures and steps, including:
- With regard to legislation, for example, the Criminal Code and the legislation amending the Code contain penalties for offences that fall within the category of violence against women and children, including offences against honour, indecent acts and indecent assault, acts harmful to children, murder, abuse, abortion and abduction;
- The Human Trafficking Act includes harsh penalties for forms of human trafficking of which the victims are women and children, as these offences involve the most serious forms of violence against women and children such as the use of means of coercion or threat to exploit women and children in prostitution or forced labour;
- In the context of the legislative review, the Supreme Council for Family Affairs established a committee, chaired by the Council and with members drawn from the competent national authorities, to review the national legislation on domestic violence;
- Strategies and national plans have included goals to strengthen services provided to the family, women and children with a view to protecting them against violence. The Strategic Plan for the Family 2011-2016 includes a goal relating to the protection of women from all forms of exploitation and violence, and the strategic implementation plan that was adopted includes a series of specific programmes and measures for the implementation of that goal through government and non- governmental agencies.

National Report:
Para 27) The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs was brought into being pursuant to Amiri Decree No. 4 of 2016. The Ministry includes the Family Affairs Department, which is the competent authority for all matters pertaining to women and seeks to enhance the status and role of women in society and to maintain strong and cohesive families in which children are cared for and which abide by sound moral and religious values. The Family Affairs Department also helps to enact national strategies, plans and policies related to women, to provide social welfare and to develop and follow up on social development programmes, in coordination with the competent authorities.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 18) AI expressed concern over the government’s sweeping reservations. Through lodging these reservations, Qatar has refused to fully recognize equal rights for women, including in matters of personal status laws, and has also stated that it will interpret the term “punishment” in line with the Islamic Shari’a.
Para 21) JS4 also stated that the sweeping reservations made to ICCPR and ICESCRs in respect to gender equality and declarations that appear to undermine the object and purpose of the Covenants, were regrettable, and that the gaps in domestic law and policy and the challenges that many individuals and groups faced in relation to their right to a nationality, detailed below, were all in clear violation of the international obligations of Qatar.
Para 28) According to AI, laws that discriminate against women came particularly to the fore in the context of the Gulf crisis that began in June 2017, when some governments severely restricted ties with Qatar as part of a political dispute. In line with citizenship and family laws across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the children of Qatari mothers and non-Qatari fathers are not automatically entitled to citizenship. So when some countries called their nationals back from Qatar and prevented Qatari nationals from entering their territory many families were split up.
Para 51) ODVV stated that Qatar women faced discrimination in law and practice, and that personal status laws continued to discriminate against women in relation to marriage, divorce, inheritance, child custody, nationality and freedom of movement.
Para 52) AI stated that in Qatar, women continued to face discrimination in law and practice. Family law discriminates against women, including by making it much harder for women to seek a divorce than for men, and placing women at a severe economic disadvantage if they seek a divorce or if their husbands leave them.

National Report:
Para 12) Since submitting its second national report to the universal periodic review mechanism, Qatar has acceded to a number of instruments: … • ICCPR, under Decree No. 40 of 2018; • ICESCR, under Decree No. 41 of 2018;

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 2) The State has also acceded to the … ICESCR.
Para 17) Joint Submission 4 (JS4) commended Qatar’s accession to the … ICESCR) in 2018.
Para 18) AI expressed concern over the government’s sweeping reservations. Through lodging these reservations, Qatar has refused to fully recognize equal rights for women, including in matters of personal status laws, and has also stated that it will interpret the term “punishment” in line with the Islamic Shari’a.
Para 21) JS4 also stated that the sweeping reservations made to ICCPR and ICESCRs in respect to gender equality and declarations that appear to undermine the object and purpose of the Covenants, were regrettable, and that the gaps in domestic law and policy and the challenges that many individuals and groups faced in relation to their right to a nationality, detailed below, were all in clear violation of the international obligations of Qatar.

National Report:
Para 20) Family Cohesion and Empowerment of Women Strategy 2011-2016: This strategy is one of the 14 component sectoral strategies of the National Development Strategy and comes under the umbrella of social development. Responsibility for the launch and follow-up to this strategy has been assigned to the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, in coordination with founding partners. The three main themes of the strategy [include] ... the empowerment of women.

Para 49) ... The Qatar National Vision 2030 reaffirms the need to strengthen women's capacities and to empower them to participate in political and economic life and, in particular, in decision-making. The specific goals of the national population policy include the empowerment of women and the promotion of gender equity and justice and the executive plan includes specific executive programmes for the achievement of those goals.

Para 50) The establishment of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs represents an important shift in concern for the family in general and for women in particular. Whereas previously women's issues were considered only in terms of welfare and protection, since the establishment of the Council the concepts of women's empowerment and participation have emerged for the first time in dealing with those issues in Qatari society. The Council has played a key role in developing legislation relating to women including, for example, by contributing to the drafting of the Family Code, setting the minimum age for marriage, establishing the premarital medical examination policy, establishing the age to which mothers have custody of children as 13 years for boys and 15 years for girls, contributing to the drafting of the Housing Act and establishing the right of women to access the housing system. In addition, the Council has adopted a human rights perspective in dealing with issues relating to women, children, persons with disabilities and the elderly. It has contributed to spreading awareness of women's rights and issues through the implementation of numerous training courses, workshops, discussion panels and seminars and has contributed to strengthening scientific research on women's issues through conducting and publishing studies and research.

Para 55) Moreover, the Ministry of the Interior established the Committee for Women's Affairs by Ministerial decision No. 31 of 2010. The Committee is responsible for monitoring the situation of women in the Ministry and for the implementation of related public policies, for studying issues affecting women, for coordination with various governmental and non-governmental bodies with a view to achieving the objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030, representing the Ministry at events and conferences, participating in the preparation of the Ministry's strategy for women and giving impetus to dialogue and communication with the agencies responsible for women's issues.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 9) NHRC warned that women's participation in the decision-making process is still limited, in particular with regards to their participation in the Parliament. There are currently no female representatives in The Shura Council (the legislative branch) as the current law only authorizes nomination of males.