Tale about plight of blind women in Qatar raises residents' hackles

A story about the plight of blind women in Qatar, as translated from Al Watan by the Peninsula, has induced pity, disbelief and outrage among some readers today.

Because it is difficult for blind women to get married here, some suggest that the Family Consulting Center make matches for them with male prisoners, the daily reports:

Marriages of blind women is a taboo subject in most Qatari families, where families feel ashamed of speaking about the issue. For blind men, the situation is different altogether. Many of these men have as many as three wives while their female counterparts have no marriage prospect in sight, many complained…

“It is hard to understand why the community refuses the idea of marriages of blind women. There are many good examples of successful marriages between blind women and normal men in the Gulf, but you will not find these examples in Qatar,” (Mariam Al Kuwari, supervisor of activities at the Cultural and Social Centre for the Blind), said.

Here are some of the reactions to the story:

Sad tale abt regressive attitudes “Rejection is encouraging #blind women to accept being second or third wife” bit.ly/POscDp #qatar

— omarkhalifa (@omarkhalifa) September 2, 2012

@rachelannmorris @peninsulaqatar it was in the arabic version last week i had to re read it to actually believe my eyes ….

— Mai Al-Sulaiti ميّ (@alsulaiti) September 2, 2012