{"id":1185,"date":"2017-07-07T11:08:26","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T10:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copyright.lboro.ac.uk\/crcc\/?p=1185"},"modified":"2017-07-11T11:16:34","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T10:16:34","slug":"britains-missing-muslim-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/crcc\/nations-citizenship\/britains-missing-muslim-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain\u2019s \u2018missing\u2019 Muslim women"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether British citizens with Muslim beliefs are sufficiently committed to \u201cBritish values\u201d and to a \u201cBritish way of life\u201d is a topic of intense political and media debate. Now a new report on \u201cMissing Muslims<\/a>\u201d launched by the Citizens Commission on Islam, Participation and Public Life<\/a> on July 3 has challenged the allegation<\/a> that Muslim citizens are disengaged from the mainstream of British life.<\/p>\n

It finds that \u201cmost Muslims in the UK are British citizens\u201d and that a large majority of them actively identify as British. Muslim citizens have also been found to vote in elections at a higher rate than the general population, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Such clear demonstrations of public engagement and belonging are set against a volatile sociopolitical context. A documented rise in Islamophobia<\/a>, anti-Muslim prejudice and hate crimes<\/a> make it increasingly challenging for Muslim citizens to feel they are equally valued as citizens. But the report also finds much wanting within Muslim communities when it comes to participation in British public life \u2013 with barriers particularly affecting Muslim women.<\/p>\n

The Citizens Commission on Islam, Participation and Public Life was established in 2015 by Citizens UK<\/a>, a charitable civil society organisation that represents various churches, mosques, synagogues, schools, trade unions and other voluntary associations across England and Wales. Chaired by Conservative MP Dominic Grieve<\/a>, the commission has held a number of public hearings<\/a> and received evidence from both organisations and individuals.<\/p>\n

Based on my own research<\/a> on Christian and Muslim women\u2019s experiences of citizenship, I gave evidence to the commission\u2019s hearing in Leicester. My focus was on the stereotyping and discrimination of Muslim women in wider society and on barriers to women\u2019s participation in Muslim faith organisations.<\/p>\n

The new report notes that, for Muslim women, \u201cdisadvantage in employment is particularly acute\u201d and that Muslim women who wear headscarves are \u201cmore likely than men to feel unsafe\u201d due to the verbal and physical abuse they suffer. In explaining Muslim women\u2019s disadvantage in the labour market, the authors highlight discriminatory recruitment and hiring practices among employers.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s role in mosques<\/h2>\n

The report also observes that Muslim women are missing from the governance structures of Muslim institutions. It says that many mosques \u201care not welcoming to women\u2019s participation at any serious level\u201d. Within this overall picture of male dominance, there is a growing participation<\/a> of Muslim women in mosques around the country that have created designated women\u2019s spaces. There is also a desire among many Muslim women<\/a> to take on mosque leadership, management and teaching roles.<\/p>\n

The commission makes a strong recommendation for all Muslim organisations to enable \u201cequal access to leadership opportunities\u201d for women. Whether this would include leadership of religious prayer is unclear, as the report falls short of recommending that women should be able to perform the role of an imam in a mosque. The issue of women leading Muslim prayer is controversial<\/a> and the commission appears to have simply bypassed the issue.<\/p>\n

It also fails to mention the slow but growing emergence of women-led mosques, such as the Inclusive Mosque Initiative<\/a> in London and plans by the Muslim Women\u2019s Council in Bradford<\/a> to build a women-led mosque<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The report also ignores that sexual minority groups and individuals (LGBT+) are often excluded from faith institutions. Groups such as IMAAN<\/a> in London and Al-Jannah<\/a> in Scotland should be acknowledged for the support they provide to individuals and their contribution to raising awareness and tolerance.<\/p>\n

A question of justice and equality<\/h2>\n

In neglecting such contested issues surrounding gender and sexuality, the report risks homogenising all Muslim communities as deeply traditional and conservative. It also risks minimising the progressive changes that some Muslim women and men are currently engaged in towards developing more inclusive practices within their faith communities.<\/p>\n

In attempting to explain why Muslim women experience barriers to participation stemming from their own communities, the report suggests a distinction between \u201creligion\u201d and \u201cculture\u201d. But by blaming this gender inequality on culture, it fails to recognise the importance of men\u2019s interest in maintaining the status quo in order to serve their own privilege and control. The Muslim Women\u2019s Network UK has emphasised<\/a> these patriarchal structures as the main hindrance to women\u2019s participation in faith communities.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just a problem that affects Muslim women. Elsewhere in British life women are underrepresented in important political, economic and religious institutions ranging from the UK parliament<\/a> to business boardrooms<\/a> and churches. But gender discrimination within these institutions is rarely excused as resulting from \u201cculture\u201d \u2013 as it is within Muslim organisations. Instead, such discrimination in wider society is talked about as relating to justice, equality and human rights for women.<\/p>\n

Secularism does not guarantee gender equality, but neither does religion necessarily promote gender inequality and we must pay attention to specific contexts. By making comparisons<\/a>, such as between Christian and Muslim women, we can establish similarities and differences in experiences and views. Such comparisons are likely to reveal that, as the late MP Jo Cox said, there is more that unites us than divides us<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Line Nyhagen<\/a>, Reader in Sociology, Loughborough University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether British citizens with Muslim beliefs are sufficiently committed to \u201cBritish values\u201d and to a \u201cBritish way of life\u201d is a topic of intense political and media debate. Now a new report on \u201cMissing Muslims\u201d launched by the Citizens Commission on Islam, Participation and Public Life on July 3 has challenged the allegation that Muslim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":412,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nations-citizenship"],"yoast_head":"\nBritain\u2019s \u2018missing\u2019 Muslim women - Centre for Research in Communication and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whether British citizens with Muslim beliefs are sufficiently committed to \u201cBritish values\u201d and to a \u201cBritish way of life\u201d is a topic of intense debate.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/crcc\/nations-citizenship\/britains-missing-muslim-women\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Britain\u2019s \u2018missing\u2019 Muslim women - 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