Women and Reproductive Rights in Qatar: Knowledge Production between Fish, Law and Society

Abstract

Do women have access to knowledge about their reproductive rights as outlined in_x000D_ fiqh, modern Qatari law, hospitals, schools, and the institutions on family/marriage? In this_x000D_ thesis, it will be shown that women possess limited information on what qualifies as a_x000D_ reproductive right and what does not. Women might know what different types of_x000D_ contraceptives are available, and how they are used. They may also know that they do not_x000D_ need a prescription to obtain contraceptives from a pharmacy or permission of any kind._x000D_ However, what they lack is the knowledge regarding their basic reproductive rights, such_x000D_ as the use of contraceptives without the permission of the husband. This rather widely_x000D_ believed information leads women to think that they need their husbands’ permission to_x000D_ use birth control. In other words, if her husband decided that he wanted a child, she must_x000D_ obey him even if she does not want to do so. At the same time, it allows husbands to believe_x000D_ that they have a final say on what happens to their wives’ bodies. The discourse that women_x000D_ are exposed to is very limiting and limited; limiting because women are told what to do_x000D_ through prohibitions (what not to do), and limited because women are not informed on the_x000D_ rights which are related to their own bodies, the matters to which they are entitled, what_x000D_ they can and cannot do, etc. Because of the lack of knowledge about their rights in addition_x000D_ to social norms, women in Qatar do not have their reproductive rights, and husbands are_x000D_ the ones who have the right to choose when to reproduce.

Date of Award	2020
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Humanities and Social Science