Bahraini women have been the main target of security forces since the pro-democracy protests started in mid February.
Bahraini women have been the main target of security forces since the pro-democracy protests started in mid February, The Independent reported on Thursday.
According to the article, human rights groups said there were signs that more and more women have been detained and mistreated. They added that Bahrain police, riot police and special security held women incommunicado, forced them to sign confessions or even threaten with rape.
Ayat al-Gormezi, 20, a poet and student who was arrested two months ago during a rally would go on trial on Thursday. Ayat’s crime was reading out a poem at a pro-democracy protest.
"We are the people who will kill humiliation and assassinate 
misery", Ayat said in front of a cheering crowd of protesters in Pearl Square in February.
"We are the people who will destroy the foundation of injustice".
She addresses King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa directly and says to him: "Don't you hear their cries, don\'t you hear their screams?" As she finishes, the crowd shouts: "Down with Hamad."
According to the Independent, Ayat's mother said that "Ayat has not been seen since her arrest, though she talked to her once by phone in which Ayat told her that had been forced to sign a false confession". The mother added that her daughter has been in a military hospital after being tortured.
Human rights groups also reported that hundreds of women have been arrested, many of them complained of being severely beaten while in custody. One woman journalist was beaten so badly that she could not walk.
A woman doctor, who was later released but may be charged, told Reuters news agency that she was threatened with rape.
On Wednesday, Bahraini authorities lifted martial law in the island kingdom, which was imposed on 15 March.
However there has been no sign of repression easing. Some 600 people are still detained, at least 2,000 have been sacked, and some 27 mosques of the Shia, who make up 70 per cent of the population, have been bulldozed, The Independent said.
