الملخص الإنجليزي
Regardless of their religion, education, nationality and ethnicity, women are always looking for
societal support during their quest for the political empowerment around the world. However,
despite the international efforts of the different organizations and civil society institutions,
women's political status is still below the desired level globally. Hence, this research aims to
focus on the political status of women in the Sultanate of Oman as a Middle Eastern country. The
research aims to investigate the overall political status of women and to find out the possible
ways to improve it -if needed-, which would lead to the overall improvement of women's lives
and consequently to the good of the whole society.
According to the academic researcher Khairalnesa from Sultan Qaboos University "The
political leadership, law and legislation are areas where Omani women's presence is lacking.
However, increasing women's presence in these fields would help them to achieve empowerment
in all areas" (Khairalnesa, 2012, p23). The research aims to investigate the role of social and
political institutions in empowering Omani women. Among these institutions are the family,
tribe, local community and the Omani Basic Law. Moreover, the research assumes the existence
of a number of challenges facing the process of women's involvement within the political milieu.
Among the challenges facing the Arab women, in general, and Omani women, in particular, are
the socio-cultural factors this might include the role of family, society, tribe, women themselves
and stereotyped image of women. On the other hand, it is important to mention and analyze the
great role of the Omani government in the process of politically empowering women as a major
stage of the Omani Comprehensive Development Strategy. In spite of that, the women's actual
political existence is still below expectations in the Omani elected bodies.
