As President and founder of the Women's Petition Committee, Ghada Jamsheer works to defend women who have been wronged by Shari'a verdicts in Bahrain. In 2005 Jamsheer published a book entitled "The Killer and the Victim in the Shari'a Courts" in which she examined the committee's movement and the cases of women who were aggrieved by Shari'a verdicts. Ghada Jamsheer was named on eof the heroes of freedon in the Arab region by Time Magazine in 2006 and was voted one of the 10 most influential women in Arab Countries by Forbes magazine in 2006.

"I am Ghada Yousef Jamsheer, a Bahraini citizen.I began working in human rights and particularly women’s rights from the corridors of Shari’a Courts in Bahrain characterised by moral and professional corruption. The motivation for this work was the severe suffering that I witnessed, due to the complex religious, patriarchal, and social persecution, which led some women to psychological and neurological institutions.

The cruelty of Shari’a verdicts depriving mothers of their children’s custody or forcing women to live under intolerable circumstances controlled by their husbands in the name of the Islamic religion personified in the Shari’a court, made a group of women who have been harmed because of Shari’a verdicts and myself found a women’s organisation that became known as the Women’s Petition Committee, whose mission is to defend women who have been wronged by Shari’a verdicts.

This committee played an important role on the ground between 2000 and 2007, through demonstrations and protests inside the corridors of Shari’a Courts. The committee has also used the press to address its objectives, among which is the reform of Shari’a judiciary and the codification of family laws. This has resulted in the dismissal of seven Shari’i judges from both sects; Sunna and Ja’faryia, it has also made the government act in response to addressing family laws.

After the judges were dismissed because of the pressure from the Women’s Petition Committee on the public and the media levels, some Shari’a judges targeted me as president of the Women’s Petition Committee. A group of them launched several criminal law suits against me, with a potential sentence of fifteen years in prison under pretext of infringing Shari’a judiciary. The committee, however, intensified its activities and communication with the United Nations and international organisations; I have visited Britain and Geneva accompanied by a group of women who have been wronged. As a result of local action and the support of international organisations, the verdict in all law suits against me at criminal courts was one of acquittal.

In September 2006, the Ministry of Social Development pressured me to put an end to the committee’s activities since it is not registered according to the Law of Civil Associations. According to article 18 of the law, the registered association is forbidden to adopt any politically oriented opinion or activity. The law also restricts the association’s ability to establish international communications and receive donations.

In 2006, following my participation along with other national Bahraini movements at the British House of Lords, and criticising the Bahraini authorities’ policies concerning democracy and women’s political, economic and social rights; I received a direct threat from the Minister of the Royal Court, demanding that I give up public work. After that, I have been put under permanent surveillance, and cars that belong to the intelligence services were constantly outside my house, my telephone has been bugged, and the regime sent individuals to bribe me and to blackmail me at the same time, and indeed, the intelligence services attempted to put a spy camera bug in my room, in an attempt to acquire pictures that could be used to silence me.

The intelligence services attempted to pressure me through intimidating members of my family, some of whom occupy significant positions in state and society. The Minister of the Royal Court, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa, gave orders to newspapers in Bahrain to prevent the publication of any news article related to the committee or to actions that I take, which made me use the Internet.

All this intimidation never dissuaded me from continuing my work, and I am proud of the international support that I received from many Arab and international organisations. I am proud of my participation with the late ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, and the Iranian activist, Shirin Ebadi, in the establishment of the Muslim Women’s Forum for Human Rights and Democracy, which held its first congress in May 2007 in Oslo, Norway. All this motivated me to remain steadfast and to continue the struggle in spite of difficulties."