Closing the Divide: Women Empowerment in Qatar Between Rhetoric and Reality

Abstract

The Arab Gulf nations, including Qatar, have embraced women’s empowerment as a central aspect of their national development. Numerous initiatives have been launched to further this cause. However, despite the public rhetoric emphasizing progress in this area, there seems to be a discrepancy between this and the experiences of women on the ground. This chapter aims to examine this gap by exploring the impact of state feminism within a welfare state on the empowerment of ordinary women. To do this, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 Qatari women to gather their perspectives. Using a power lens, this study found that the women interviewed faced challenges in areas such as freedom of choice, legal rights, inclusiveness, and representation. The results suggest a disconnect between the empowerment initiatives and the lived experiences of these women, highlighting the need for a shift towards a bottom-up approach that focuses on the organic growth of a powerful female community that can advocate for and assert their rights within the context of their realities.