GENDER ROLES.

GENDER ROLES

Do men and women have equal rights?

Not really, because even when Qatar's constitution guarantees women equal rights as citizens, the government has not acted to ensure that women are not in fact discriminated against and has not taken measures to inform women of their legal rights and protections. In addition, most rights in the constitution (among them, rights related to employment and property ownership) apply only to Qatari citizens,and as a fact of great importance in Qatar, most residents are noncitizens.

Are men the head of the household?

Yes, in most of the families, the men are who works and get high-level positions and the women just stay in home as housewives. 

Do women have a right to wear what they want?

Kind of, although in Qatar there is no dress code as such, is better to wear conservative clothes in order to respect Islamic culture. The traditional dress consists of the thobe (for men) and the abaya and Shayla (for women). In that order, women can’t wear whatever they want because even when the law allows them to do it, the religion don’t, so it's recommended that they dress modestly (this means covering shoulders and wearing below knee-length trousers and skirts) in order to avoid feeling uncomfortable.

Qatar's law treats women as full and equal persons. However, in practice, most women living in Qatar are not always treated as equals. The implementation of Islamic laws in Qatar is often discriminatory against women, particularly the laws that govern inheritance and child custody.

The Shari'a prohibits all forms of physical violence. However, the legal system often treats leniently those men who commit acts of violence against women who, in their view, behave immodestly or defy the man's authority. For example,  Qatar's law states that it is a wife’s responsibility to look after the household and to obey her husband. Also, the law forbidding husbands from hurting their wives physically or morally,but does not criminalize domestic violence or marital rape.

GENDER STEREOTYPES

Division of Labor by Gender. Schooling is gender-segregated. After completing schooling, men and women can obtain employment in government agencies or private enterprise. Qatari women tend to take government jobs, particularly in the ministries of education, health, and social affairs. High-level positions are held predominantly by men. While the presence of the foreign workforce has put more women in the public sphere, those women work primarily in occupations that reinforce the division of labor by gender. Foreign females are hired mostly as maids, nannies, teachers, nurses, and clerical or service workers.

The Relative Status of Women and Men. Gender roles are relatively distinct. Men engage in the public sphere more frequently than do women. Women have access to schooling and employment and have the right to drive and travel outside the country. However, social mores influenced by Islam and historical precedent leave many women uncomfortable among strangers in public. Instead, their activities are conducted in private spaces. To provide women with more access to public services, some department stores, malls, parks, and museums designate "family days" during which men are allowed entry only if they accompany their families.

GENDER ROLES IN QATAR VS GENDER ROLES IN COLOMBIA

Gender roles between Colombia and Qatar are not so different. In both countries the men tend to be the head of household. The man works and get the money and the women are housewives. Men have more job opportunities among other things than women. All those inequalities are due to the religion, and here is when the inequality brief gets bigger. The islamic religion is more misogynist than Christianism. So... To sum up, both countries are misogynist, the difference is that Qatar tends to be more radical.

References:
- https://www.refworld.org/docid/47387b6fc.html
- https://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Qatar.html
- https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/qatar
- https://www.unicef.org/gender/files/Qatar-Gender-Eqaulity-Profile-2011.pdf