CCMW Draws Attention to Gendered Islamophobia at the National Action Summit
Graphic Credit: Hana Shafi
Design by Zainab Jamal
CCMW's Executive Director Nuzhat Jafri participated in the National Summit on Islamophobia earlier today to share the experiences and perspectives of CCMW members and of young women and girls on Islamophobia.
Nuzhat endorsed the National Council of Canadian Muslims’ recommendations and put forward CCMW's own recommendations, which addressed the concerns of Canadian Muslim women and girls with a focus on gendered and Intersectional Islamophobia and gender-based violence (GBV). The proposals were based on consultations with CCMW chapter members and other stakeholders, particularly young Black, queer, visible and non-visible Canadian Muslim women and young Muslim women with disabilities. These groups were recently invited to share their experiences of Islamophobia through CCMW’s Digital Anti-Racism Education (DARE) project. In addition, CCMW also hosted a Young People’s Roundtable on Islamophobia last week to provide young Muslim women a platform to air their views and discuss issues of concern.
Nuzhat used her time to highlight the urgent need to recognize the diversity of Canadian Muslim women and address the intersectional elements of Islamophobia. She drew attention to how Islamophobia is experienced differentially by each person, and how it intersects with other forms of discrimination such as anti-Black racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism. Likewise, she advocated for these voices to be provided a greater platform and to be included more actively in community consultations and policy discussions.
Nuzhat also made an appeal for funding research on the gendered and intersectional nature of Islamophobia and called for the application of an intersectional anti-Islamophobia lens to review government policies, legislation, regulations and programs and services to detect and counter anti-Muslim, Islamophobic bias.
“Our goal at the Summit today was to raise awareness of gendered Islamophobia and bring the issue of intersectionality in Islamophobia to the forefront of public discourse and policy development,” she said “Gendered Islamophobia directly targets Muslim women, girls, trans and non-binary individuals. The lived experiences of these Muslims with intersectional identities are often removed from conversations surrounding the Muslim experience. CCMW is committed to countering this and to giving these groups an equal voice and a platform for representation. This is the only way we can truly challenge Islamophobia in this country and get to the root of the problem. ”
The threat of Islamophobia-based attacks and violence looms large among Canadian Muslim women and girls, who can be identified easily by their clothing. This is particularly pronounced for Black and other visibly Muslim women. The spate of hate-motivated attacks on Black Muslim women in hijab in Calgary and Edmonton, and the ongoing harassment and abuse of visible Muslim women is clear evidence of this phenomenon. In addition, three of the four individuals who were murdered in the London Islamophobic terrorist attack were women.
Islamophobic attacks are just another layer of violence faced by these women. This is exacerbated by the fact that most service providers are ill-equipped to handle their trauma, and there is a dearth of culturally competent service providers for these groups. CCMW’s recommendations included a plea to address this shortage of counsellors, therapists and emergency shelters to meet the specific needs of Canadian Muslim women and girls.
In addition to lack of adequate support and competent service providers, Black and other visibly Muslim women also face rampant discrimination in policing and the justice system.
Muslim women are reticent to make complaints of Islamophobic, sexist or racist incidents to the police due to anti-Muslim and anti-Black bias on the part of law enforcement agencies. Many shared that such complaints were ignored or dismissed when reported in the past leading them to feel disempowered and dissuaded from pursuing matters further. Similar Islamophobic attitudes are encountered by Muslim women in the justice system because of cultural relativism and assumptions about Muslims and Islam. CCMW has been frequently contacted by Canadian Muslim women who have faced significant challenges in accessing legal services that are responsive to their specific cultural and religious needs.
CCMW proposes anti-Islamophobia and anti-racism education for police services, lawyers, paralegals and judges in all Canadian jurisdictions to meet these challenges. In addition, it calls for greater investment in community liaison officers specifically to connect with Muslims and specific police services units and data collection systems to deal effectively with hate crimes.
Discrimination in employment and education were identified as other major concerns for young Muslim women during CCMW's consultations. Many women recounted facing discrimination in finding employment and once they are employed, advancing in their careers. Similarly, they face ignorance and Islamophobic views of teachers and other educational staff, as well as inaccuracies about Islam and Muslims in the curriculum at educational institutions around the country
These statements are corroborated by a recent CCMW report, Canadian Muslim Women: A Decade of Change, based on data from the National Household Survey of 2011, which concluded that Muslim women encountered more difficulties in the labour market than other communities with similar demographic and education profiles.
To remedy these issues, CCMW calls for disaggregating data to enable identification of employment barriers for Canadian Muslim women, taking into account their intersectional identities. It also proposes a requirement for Ministers of Labour to address employment barriers faced by Canadian Muslim women and girls. The organization makes a similar appeal for a requirement that Ministries of Education review elementary and secondary school curricula from an anti-Islamophobia lens and ensure that anti-racism and anti- Islamophobia content is included in them.
The full set of CCMW’s recommendations and proposals can be accessed here.
The organization has pledged to issue a report card every six months on progress made to hold elected officials to account. Further details on this will be announced shortly.
CCMW President Nina Karachi-Khaled made an appeal to governments at all levels to take these recommendations seriously and to act on them without delay. She highlighted the need for accurate portrayals and positive stories about Canadian Muslim women and girls in the media. She stated that countering incorrect narratives around voicelessness and lack of agency and presenting accurate, three-dimensional accounts of Muslim women in control of their lives could facilitate positive change for them.
“Muslim women often find it difficult to navigate public spaces given the stereotypes that are put on them. The image of the oppressed Muslim woman needing to be saved contributes to the violence they face,” Nina said.
“This one-dimensional, stereotypical view we have of Muslim women is perpetuated in the media, it is these negative stories that are shared and spread and that reinforce preconceived notions and biases. But a lot of Canadian Muslim women are very inspiring, passionate, successful and active members in their communities. They are going out there and doing all sorts of positive and creative things and making a difference, a real contribution to Canadian society. It is these stories that we need to see and hear - diverse positive stories that will help challenge this monolithic view of Muslim women and reflect reality.”