The Struggle for Women`s Rights in Muslim-Majority

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The Struggle for Women’s
Rights in Muslim-Majority
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Countries
PRESENTED BY: RAHEEL RAZA
CHA L L E NG I NG E XT
RE MI S M I P RO
T I NG DI A L O G UE
MuslimsFacingTomorrow.com
ClarionProject.org
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Raheel Raza
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President of The Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow
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Author of the book Their Jihad – Not My Jihad,
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Award winning journalist, public speaker, activist for human
rights, gender equality and dignity in diversity
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Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for
service to Canada
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Sits on the Advisory Board of The Mosaic Institute and The
ACTV Foundation (The Alliance of Canadian Terror Victims).
CHA L L E NG I NG E XT RE MI S M I P RO MO T I NG DI A L O G UE
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Raheel Raza
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Is accredited with United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva through The
International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU)
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Received city of Toronto’s Constance Hamilton award and the Urban Hero award
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Featured in the award winning documentary Honor Diaries –the first time women activists
have come together to address issues faced by Muslim women.
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Distinguished Senior Fellow with The Gatestone Institute.
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Created the documentary “Whose Sharia is it anyway?” dealing with the sharia debate in
Ontario, Canada.
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CHA L L E NG I NG E XT RE MI S M I P RO MO T I NG DI A L O G UE
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Raheel’s Journey
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Pakistani by birth, Canadian by choice and Islam is
her spiritual journey.
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Part of this journey is about reclaiming rights given
to women in Islam, most of which have beena
usurped by Islamists.
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Grew up in a culture where women were supposed
to be seen and not heard therefore she ensures
that her voice is heard now, as she has the
freedom to speak out in Canada.
CHA L L E NG I NG E XT RE MI S M I P RO MO T I NG DI A L O G UE
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Education for Women
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The World economic forum statistics
indicate that as many as 40% of
Pakistani children are not in primary
school.
UNESCO reports that the secondary
school enrollment rate stands at only
32% for females but 46% for males.
Given a choice and the economic
freedom to educate children, priority
is given to males over females.
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Education for Women
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UNDP statistics show the
level of education among
Arab women is the lowest in
the Muslim world.
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Servile Marriage: Marital and Sexual Slavery
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Thousands of females across the world are being
forced into servile marriages daily.
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Servile marriage, which includes non-consensual
marriage and the sale, transfer and inheritance of
women and girls, reduces females to commodities
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over which men can exercise the right of
ownership.
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The overwhelming majority of women in servile
marriages are forced into marriage as child brides.
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In the developing world, one in nine girls marry
before the age of 15. In countries like Niger, Chad,
Mali, Bangladesh, Guinea and CAR, the rate of
early and forced marriage is 60% or higher.
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Servile Marriage
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The persistence of servile marriage is grounded in a deeply unequal view of the female;
where girls are perceived as commodities to be used to preserve honor, or solidify family
links and finances.
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It allows for violence against young girls, their bodies being used as tools for sexual
reproduction and gratification.
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Servile marriages treat girls and women not as people but as property, in diametric
opposition to human rights.
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This not only enslaves these women and girls, but often violates their rights to health,
education, non-discrimination and freedom from physical, psychological and sexual
violence.
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Women’s Rights Under Authoritarian or Theocratic Regimes
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Women suffer from attacks on freedom of movement,
the rights to education and work, and imposition of
unjust laws
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These are challenges for women to get equal status
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and justice.
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Many women are lobbying for nothing more than the
right to have a say in the politics of their country, to be
emotionally and intellectually liberated and to
participate in public life free from the fetters of
oppression.
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UN Involvement
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Testimonies show that women’s rights have been
usurped and women have been dehumanized
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Just a few months ago Egypt's ultraconservative Ala
Gamaa Al-Islamiya slammed the recently ratified
United Nations 'End Violence Against Women'
document because it contains articles "violating
Islamic Sharia and general morality."
Al-Gamaa-Al-Islamiya Logo
CHA L L E NG I NG E XT RE MI S M I P RO MO T I NG DI A L O G UE
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Female Genital Mutilation
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UNIFEM estimates that more than 130 million girls
and women alive today have undergone Female
Genital Mutilation in Africa and some Middle
Eastern countries
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Two million girls a year are at risk of mutilation.
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FGM is being practiced among immigrant
communities in Europe, Canada and Australia and
many governments are turning a blind eye to this
epidemic because they believe it’s based in faith.
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IT’S NOT BASED IN FAITH
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CHA L L E NG I NG E XT RE MI S M I P RO MO T I NG DI A L O G UE
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Honor Killings
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In Pakistan last year 943 women were killed in the name of
honor (these are just the reported cases – thousands go
unreported). This number is up from 2010 when there were
791 reported honor killings.
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In Egypt, 47% of the women who were raped were later
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killed by a relative.
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In Jordan and Lebanon, 70% to 75% of the perpetrators of
these so-called “honor killings” are the women’s brothers.
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Article 340 of the Jordan Penal Code states that "he who
discovers his wife or one of his female relatives committing
adultery and kills, wounds, or injures one of them, is
exempted from any penalty”
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Women in the Arab Spring
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There have been numerous reports
of violence targeting women,
committed by militia, soldiers and
police.
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There have also been reports of
violence against women committed
by demonstrators.
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Syria
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Women have been abducted by pro-regime forces to
spread fear within the population
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The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that the
UN ordered an International special commission of
inquiry and continues to monitor the situationavery
closely.
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A poll by the Thomas Reuters Foundation ranked Syria
19th out of 22 Arab states for women’s rights
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Syrian women protesting in May 2011
Girls as young as 12 have been married in refugee
camps
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Libya
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Rape has been used as a
weapon of war and the
stigmatization of victims is
such that they are
condemned to silence
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CHA L L E NG I NG E XT RE MI S M I P RO MO T I NG DI A L O G UE
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Egypt
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A poll by the Thomas Reuters Foundation
found that Egypt ranked at the bottom of 22
Arab states in their treatment of women
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A study by UN Women found up to 99.3% ofa
women and girls are subjected to sexual
harassment
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A study by UNICEF found that 27.2 million
women are victims of genital mutilation, the
largest number in a single country in the world
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Iraq
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A poll by the Thomas Reuters Foundation
ranked the treatment of women in Iraq 21st
out of 22 Arab states
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Only 14.5% of women in Iraq have jobs
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Thousands of displaced women have been
forced to work as prostitutes in neighboring
countries including Syria, Jordan and United
Arab Emirates.
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Saudi Arabia
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Women are not permitted to drive
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Women need their male guardians
permission to marry, travel, obtain health
care in certain situations, and to enroll in
higher education.
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Four male witnesses are needed to give
testimony on behalf of a rape victim in
order to get a conviction of the rapist
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Marital rape is not recognized and rape
victims risk being charged with adultery
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CHA L L E NG I NG E XT RE MI S M I P RO MO T I NG DI A L O G UE
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Countries in Transition
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Women are being marginalized
or even excluded entirely from
political bodies
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Being denied the right to vote is
essential. It prevents women
from participating in the making
of laws that could protect them
from all other forms of violence
and discrimination they
experience or may experience.
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Women Excluded from Government
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In Libya, the electoral law adopted by the
National Transitional Council contains no quota
for the representation of women in elected
bodies.
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In Morocco, there is only one woman minister in
the 30 member cabinet (compared to 7 in the
previous government).
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In Tunisia, the 41-member government contains
only 3 women
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In Iraq there are no women in government
Morocco’s
Government
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Tunisia’s
Government
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Women Excluded from Government
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In Saudi Arabia women just
gained the right to vote but
cannot drive to the voting
station
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In Pakistan, Raheel’s country
of birth, women are subject to
blasphemy and apostasy laws
if they resist the status quo.
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Resistance to Women’s Rights
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In the Muslim and Arab world today,
when a Muslim woman speaks out or is
qualified to take a leadership role, she
is called militant.
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If a woman speaks in a way expected
of women, she is seen as an
inadequate leader. If she speaks in
ways expected of leaders, she is seen
as an inadequate woman.
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Men in Tunisia protest against the feminist movement
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Why is There so Much Resistance to Women’s Rights?
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Muslim traditionalists feel threatened that a
significant number of women are now seen
in the public space
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Emancipated Muslim women are seen as
symbols of Westernization in a negative
manner
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Islamists want to implement their
interpretation of Islamic law, with little or no
regard for human rights and specifically
women’s rights.
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The Silent Revolution
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In Tunis, several thousand women
demonstrated outside parliament to warn
against any attempt by the new Islamistdominated government to curtail their
rights.
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Women in Morocco brought about
landmark changes to the divorce law and
also succeeded in having polygamy
banned.
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What Can You Do?
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Speak out without fear of political correctness.
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Create awareness by vocally addressing the issues – the first community that holds
responsibility for speaking out are Muslims because the change has to come from within
by examining current Islamic laws, the impact of scripture and how it is interpreted plus
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defining the fine line between culture and faith.
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Start movements which will help women at risk e.g. in the UK there is a help line for
women who might be afraid of forced marriages and honor-based violence. Such a help
line does not exist in North America.
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Engage with progressive, activist Muslims and support their organizations to bring about
change
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To Learn More
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Visit The Clarion Project website at www.clarionproject.org
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Visit the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow
a website at
www.muslimsfacingtomorrow.com
CHA L L E NG I NG E XT RE MI S M I P RO MO T I NG DI A L O G UE