Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain Press Association said that Bahraini female journalists did not assume any senior position in the media outlets in Bahrain after the 2011 events of 2011, noting that "the political system uses women as chess pieces to beautify, show, and polish the kingdom's image internationally."

"After the 2011 events, many Bahraini female journalists were subjected to a series of targets, including assaults, arrests and judicial trials, forcing some of them to leave the country voluntarily and others to freeze their journalistic activities to ensure their safety," the association said in a statement. "Many female journalists suffer from harassment by the Ministry of Information - the Department of Foreign Media - by preventing them from working as correspondents for foreign media outlets."

BPA pointed out that "during these years, no female journalist in Bahrain held the position of editorial secretary, editorial director or editor-in-chief, but these positions remained an exclusive privilege for men. Besides, press institutions granted training opportunities, especially those held abroad, to men, which has hindered women from developing their journalistic skills and capabilities to enable them to reach senior and prestigious positions in the Bahraini media structure."

With regard to television and radio production, BPA drew attention to the fact that "the presence of women was limited to marginal and simple roles, and were used as a good-looking façade reading what was written, prepared and edited by their male colleagues."

It added "Journalist Ahdiya Ahmed reached the position of deputy editor-in-chief of the English-language "Daily Tribune" newspaper in 2017, in preparation for assuming the presidency of the Bahrain Journalists Association in 2019." The association considered that "the purpose behind this is to polish the Kingdom's international image with regard to women's empowerment and their access to senior positions in journalism and civil society."

Bahrain Press Association considered that "the roles of woman in the world of journalism are limited and restricted within a predetermined job ceiling and a series of obstacles that have hindered any female journalist from overcoming them," noting "many reasons for this, starting with the political system that uses women as chess pieces to beautify, show, and polish the kingdom's image internationally as well as the patriarchal system that rules press systems and that does not believe in women's capabilities and even fight their development."

Arabic Version