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Bahrain does not have a personal status law, though there has been ongoing debates over this issue for decades, and a proposed law was drafted in 2008. In the absence of a personal status law, family matters are regulated by Shari‘ah courts whose judges are appointed by the government. These judges base their judgements on their own jurisprudence or their interpretations of the Islamic Shari‘ah.

There are two main sects in Bahrain: the Shiite Ja’fari and the Sunni. Accordingly, the Shari‘ah judiciary is classified into two courts, Sunni and Ja’fari. Clerics, especially from the Ja’fari sect, oppose the issuance of a personal status law and have led a campaign insisting on the existence of separate laws for each sect. Women encounter a lot of hardship in both types of Shari‘ah courts mainly due to lengthy litigation proceedings and judgements that are mostly biased in favour of men.

• In the Ja’fari doctrine, the custody of the children moves to the father after the children reach the age of 7, regardless of the best interest of the child and the father's qualifications for holding custody. 
   
• The father has the right to possess the passports of the children and control their movement, which is often used against the mother to pressure her in times of disagreements or when she is demanding divorce.
   
• Some judges give women the choice to opt for divorce through khul’ while pushing them to provide large sums of money to obtain the divorce and to waive all of their rights, especially the custody of their children. This has happened in many cases, and has resulted in divorced women finding themselves forced to live with their relatives or even on the street, especially if they are unemployed or of older age.

• Two women lawyers from the Personal Status Committee of the Bahraini Women's Union were appointed by the King to the committee that was formed by the Minister of the Royal Court in order to review the personal status law. This committee, comprised of judges of the Shari‘ah courts, legal experts and the two members of the Women’s Union, drafted a family law proposal that resulted in different reactions from the public. Even though this proposal was not officially adopted, it was successful in making personal status issues a matter of public opinion.
   
• The committee, which is no longer operational, was successful in gradually gaining support of key players in passing a personal status law. This took the form of numerous meetings with the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Population on matters relating to alimony, family consultation offices and women's rights to share ownership in the matrimonial house.
   
• Through advocacy with clerics and religious scholars from both sects to pass a personal status law, the Bahraini Women's Union achieved remarkable progress with the Sunni religious leaders, who expressed interest in cooperating with the union and agreed to form a joint committee comprised of judges, Sunni clerics and the Women’s Union to review any law proposals that were drafted. In July 2008, after weekly meetings that lasted for an entire year, the joint committee drafted a personal status law proposal that was presented to the Ministry of Justice.
   
• The Higher Council for Women was active in taking some measures to decrease the burden on women in Shari‘ah courts, such as providing legal advice for women and introducing some changes to the marriage contract, as well as regulating litigation proceedings and organising workshops to raise awareness of the changes.
   
• There is increased awareness of the importance of passing a personal status law. A number of lawyers have drafted law proposals, and there is growing support in Parliament, especially from members of the Shuraa council (a house of representatives with appointed members).
   
• The fact that Bahrain is a signatory to international conventions that demand the elimination of discrimination against women and is chosen as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council requires it to realise its commitments to these conventions, including passing a personal status law.

Even though government officials expressed their understanding of the importance of passing a personal status law, the personal status committee formed in 1982 under the Bahraini Women's Union to advocate for the passing of such a law faced a lot of resistance from religious leaders. These leaders opposed the legal regulation of family matters and viewed such a law as unnecessary, since theShari‘ah was used to issue judgements and no other law was needed.

The opposition of Shi‘ah clerics and their insistence on a constitutional guarantee that the law cannot be changed after it is enacted have been the major obstacles to passing the law. According to these clerics, a constitutional guarantee is necessary so that members of Parliament cannot change articles in the laws without consulting them, which could lead to the manipulation of the Shari‘ah. Since clerics have wide authority over Bahraini society, they have managed to freeze the campaign launched by the Higher Council of Women to support the draft personal status law.