Status of women in Bahrain - Gulf News: "Under the new constitution of 2002 women enjoy equal rights. They were granted the right to vote and run as candidates in the local and national elections for the first time that year. A number of women ran for various offices but they all failed to get elected. However, they still face 'tremendous hardships' in the two Sharia courts, the Sunni and the Shiite, according to the Women's Petition Committee, which has been lobbying for two years for judicial reforms. The group demands a new personal status law that would replace the current Sharia-based laws, which they say put women at the mercy of individual judges who have the authority to interpret Sharia law."