Kawari

Dubai, June 7 (Agencies): Bahrain has become the first country in the Gulf to appoint a woman judge.

King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa issued a decree appointing Mona Jassem al Kawari to the higher civil court as a judge.

After her appointment, she said: “I am very proud to be the first woman judge in Bahrain.”

“This nomination does not surprise me though because his majesty has been encouraging women since the launch of reforms,” she said.

Bahrain, the pro-western island nation, hosts the base of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, has a population of about 700,000 people. It has two women ministers in the government at the moment, plus six women members of an appointed advisory council.

A total of 21 women also are preparing for the parliamentary elections due later this year, but they face a tough fight in a conservative society that has only recently revived its democratic process.