Academics & Education

Pamphlets inform Muslim women of their rights in wake of Quebec’s secularism law Documents include information on how to face and report harassment and how to deal with discrimination

(CBC) An advocacy group is launching a campaign to inform Muslim women of their rights as it tries to deal with increasing reports of harassment and discrimination since Quebec’s secularism law was introduced. Justice Femme, the group behind the campaign, will begin distributing […]

Clerics & Preachers

Founder of Berlin’s liberal mosque honored for inclusive vision Seyran Ates' long fight for women's rights in the Muslim world led her to open a tolerant mosque where non-veiled women could preach and pray alongside men. She has now been honored with the prestigious Urania Medal.

(Deutsche Welle) A lawyer, activist, author and now imam, Seyran Ates has long lent a critical voice to debates about migration, women’s rights and religious freedom in Germany and beyond. Ates co-founded the “liberal” Ibn Ruschd-Goethe Mosque on the third floor of St. John’s Church near […]

Clothing

Quebec women’s federation gets hate messages after support for hijab hashtag Hashtag came after female politician barred from National Assembly for wearing a hoodie

(CBC) Quebec’s largest women’s organization said it was the target of hateful comments on social media after announcing support for the hashtag MonVoileMonChoix, or My Hijab, My Choice. The Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ) said it was inundated with hateful, Islamophobic messages. Some […]

Clothing

Ontario MPPs pass Coteau’s motion affirming religious freedoms in response to Quebec’s Bill 21 Michael Coteau placed motion before Legislature on Thursday afternoon

(CBC) The Ontario Legislature on Thursday passed a motion from Michael Coteau, Liberal MPP for Don Valley East, affirming the province’s support of religious diversity in response to Quebec’s Bill 21. Coteau placed the motion before the province’s elected representatives on Thursday afternoon, asking […]

Academics & Education

English Montreal School Board files legal challenge to Bill 21 Board argues law infringes on minority language education rights and equality of men and women

(CBC) The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) has filed its legal challenge of Quebec’s controversial law that bars teachers and principals from wearing religious symbols. The legal challenge, filed Thursday by the law firm Power Law on behalf of the EMSB and parent commissioners […]

Clothing

Edmonton city councillors denounce Quebec’s Bill 21 Mayor Don Iveson says legislation forbidding religious symbols 'an offence to civil rights'

(CBC) Edmonton city councillors are denouncing legislation in Quebec that restricts civil servants from wearing religious symbols as discriminatory and racist. “Bill 21 is an offence to civil rights,” Mayor Don Iveson said during an executive committee meeting on Thursday. “It is troubling, deeply troubling to […]

Academics & Education

French public figures call on Emmanuel Macron to ‘end Islamophobia’ Politicians and public figures often use France’s famous secular state as an excuse for hate speech and Islamophobic statements.

(Morocco World News) French newspaper Le Monde will publish, October 16, an open letter to the president of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, calling for an end to Islamophobia. Ninety French public figures have called on Macron to condemn verbal attacks on […]