Munira Fakhro ( ar, منيرة فخرو) is a

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

i academic and was a candidate in Bahrain's 2006 general election for the opposition Waad. Dr Fakhro is Associate Professor at th
University of Bahrain
having received her Doctorate in Social Policy, Planning and Administration from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

where she has served as a visiting scholar since 1997. She has also conducted research on gender, citizenship and civil society in the

Persian Gulf states The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...

at the Centre for Middle East Studies,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. She has published works on Bahrain, including issues related to women, civil society and democratisation. Dr. Fakhro is also currently a board member of the Bahrain Academic Society and the Supreme Council for Women

She was a member of the Advisory Board for the Arab Human Development Report 2004. During the 1990s Uprising, Dr Fakhro was a signatory to the 1994 Popular Petition to the Amir calling for the restoration of the parliament and the 1973 constitution. This was followed by another petition in 1995 signed by 350 women calling for the restoration of democracy and an end to

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

. As a result, the government of Bahrain demanded that she withdraw her name or be sacked from her position at the University of Bahrain. She refused to withdraw her name and was sacked along with several other of the signatorie

However,

King Hamad Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salman ...

acceded to the throne he carried out a general amnesty for all political prisoners and exiles, and Dr Fakhro was restored to her job at Bahrain University. Dr Fakhro was appointed by the King's wife, Sheikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, to the Advisory Board of the Supreme Council for Women.

2006 Bahrain parliamentary elections

Dr Fakhro ran for election in

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

that was held in Bahrain on 25 November 2006. She is Vice President of the leftist Waad, and is the only female candidate to be endorsed by Shia Islamist party,

Al Wefaq Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest co ...

. Dr Fakhro is standing in the middle class

Isa Town Isa Town ( ar, مدينة عيسى, ''Madīnat ʿĪsā'') is a middle class town located in Bahrain, in the north central part of the country. Etymology The name ''Isa'' refers to Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah, the ruler of Bahrain from 1961 to 1999 ...

constituency where she is running against Dr Salah Ali MP, who is a member of the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

's political wing, Al-Menbar Islamic Society. On the issue of women's rights, Dr Fakhro has argued that it is a core component of democracy: “You cannot separate democracy from other women’s causes … I believe that men and women should work together – for women or men or the whole society. We have so many men who believe in such issues (women’s rights), who work with us either at the university as scholars or at the political association.” Her views on women's rights mean that she has clashed with Islamists over their opposition to a unified law to protect women's rights: “Religious leaders are against the family law. I am against two separate laws for the Sunni and Shia – we will be separated more.” “If you want to fight extremism, you have to have a strong government. Democracy will bring extremists in, but in a controlled way – like Hamas in Palestine and the Muslim Brothers in Egypt. There are so many grey areas in democracy, but you must accommodate every group. This is a positive policy. They have to deal with things legally. I think things are moving towards such partial openness.” She described her appointment by Shaikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of

, to the Supreme Council for Women as “I think we are at the beginning of this movement in civil society. In the Council, we have a good strategy. To apply it will take a long time by I think it should involve all women’s associations.�

On 22 October, the Khaleej Times reported that female candidates in the 2006 elections were receiving anonymous threats and mobile phone messages telling them to withdraw to 'avoid clashing with Islamic principles'. Dr Fakhro complained to the

Supreme Council for Women The Supreme Council for Women (SCW) is Bahrain’s advisory body to the government on women's issues. It is chaired by Sheikha Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the wife of Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The current Secretary General of ...

and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs about the texts, and alleged that they are coming from

Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...

circles strongly opposed to women's participatio

Bahraini Salafist party,

Asalah The Al-Asalah Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الأصالة الإسلامية) is the main Sunni Salafist political party in Bahrain. The party is the political wing of the Islamic Education Society (''Al-Tarbiya Al-Islamiya'') which funds ...

, is opposed to women standing for parliament.

Ibrahim Sharif Ibrahim Sharif al-Sayed ( ar, ابراهيم شريف السيد) is an opposition political activist in Bahrain, currently serving as the General Secretary of the secular socialist National Democratic Action Society (Wa'ad).NATO conference profileA Rebel With a Cause
Woman This Month interview, April 2006
The Voice of Common Man
Bahrain Tribune profile, 14 October 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fakhro, Munira Harvard University people Bahraini left-wing activists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Bahraini women in politics Bahraini women's rights activists National Democratic Action Society politicians People of the Bahraini uprising of 2011 University of Bahrain faculty Columbia University School of Social Work alumni 21st-century Bahraini women politicians 21st-century Bahraini politicians

2006 Bahrain parliamentary elections

See also