Women

Academics & Education

German authorities, politicians divided on niqab, burqa ban Politicians across party lines agree that the niqab and the burqa are out of place at schools and universities. Some, however, fear that a ban could hamper integration into German society.

February 8, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) There are very few women and girls in Germany wearing a full-face veil such as the niqab or the burqa — most likely a mere two-digit number. A recent verdict handed down by a Hamburg court, however, has sparked a […]

Children & Teens

Priti Patel orders officials to explain status of grooming gang review Frustrated home secretary 'being given the run around by officials' on long-awaited probe into gang ethnicity.

February 6, 2020   

(HuffPost) Home secretary Priti Patel has ordered officials to explain what has happened to a long-awaited review into the ethnicity of grooming gangs, HuffPost UK has learnt. A frustrated Patel has been met with “obfuscation” from Home Office officials when asking about […]

Academics & Education

EMSB says it won’t accept federally backed funding to fight pair of Quebec laws Even though the Court Challenges Program is independent, Quebec's premier called on Ottawa to intervene

February 6, 2020 and   

(CBC) The English Montreal School Board says it will not take the $250,000 it was offered by the federally backed Court Challenges Program to fight two Quebec laws that the board contends go against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In […]

Children & Teens

Female genital mutilation feels ‘like living in a dead body’ More than 70,000 women in Germany have undergone female genital mutilation, and a rising number of young girls are considered at risk — even though it's illegal. It's prompted Berlin to set up a national anti-FGM office.

February 6, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) After Shadia Abdelmoneim’s third child was born, while she was still under anesthetic, her midwife performed female genital mutilation (FGM) on her without her consent. It led to a lengthy period of shock thereafter where she found it difficult to […]

Academics & Education

Legault government up in arms after EMSB awarded federal funds to fight pair of Quebec laws Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says funding is allocated by program independent of federal government

February 5, 2020   

(CBC) The Quebec government says Ottawa has some explaining to do after it was revealed that the English Montreal School Board is funding two separate legal challenges of provincial laws with federal tax dollars. “We need an explanation from the federal government,” […]

Clothing

Civil rights groups challenging Quebec’s religious symbols ban file appeal to Canada’s top court Request for appeal was filed in a 27-page brief Friday

January 17, 2020   

(CBC) Civil rights groups challenging Quebec’s controversial ban on religious symbols have filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Last month, Quebec’s Court of Appeal rejected a request to suspend portions of the law, known as Bill 21, pending a ruling on its constitutionality. […]

Clothing

Civil rights groups want to challenge Quebec religious symbols ban in Supreme Court Appeals Court last week rejected request for injunction on sections of Bill 21

December 18, 2019   

(CBC) Civil rights groups challenging Quebec’s controversial ban on religious symbols want to take their case to Canada’s top court. Quebec’s Court of Appeal last week rejected a request to suspend portions of the law, known as Bill 21, pending a ruling on its constitutionality. […]

Clothing

‘We will keep on fighting’: Muslim women devastated by Appeal Court decision to uphold Bill 21 Amal Sassi, who came to Quebec to pursue a teaching career, had hoped for a ruling allowing her to continue

December 12, 2019   

(CBC) Amal Sassi was counting on Quebec’s highest court to suspend the province’s controversial secularism law, so she kept her head buried in her books Thursday and focused on studying for her final exams. When she stepped out and heard the news that […]

Clothing

Quebec’s top court won’t suspend province’s religious symbols ban, but judges say rights being violated Province’s controversial Bill 21 passes major legal test; opponents vow to continue fight

December 12, 2019   

(CBC) Quebec’s Court of Appeal has refused to suspend the province’s controversial ban on religious symbols, even while acknowledging it causes “irreparable harm” to those affected. The province’s top court was ruling on a request to stay sections of the Laicity Act, or Bill 21, […]

Clothing

François Legault’s high-stakes game with the courts and Quebec’s secularism law Premier faces a test as supporters of the controversial Bill 21 question Quebec's chief justice

December 9, 2019   

(CBC) The stakes around Quebec’s secularism law have always been high, but somehow they’ve managed to become even higher in recent days. The law (Bill 21) has already altered the career choices of dozens, maybe hundreds, of aspiring public school teachers, prosecutors and police officers by […]

Academics & Education

Czech Supreme Court rules in favor of Somali girl barred from wearing hijab at Prague school The Czech Republic must accept and tolerate religious pluralism, and neither discriminate against any religion nor favour it unless it has a special reason, the court said

December 6, 2019   

(Expats.cz) A Somali girl who wanted to wear hijab at a Prague secondary nursing school but was banned to do so in 2013 had the right to wear it, the Czech Supreme Court ruled in its verdict that has been released on […]

Clothing

Dawson College professor accuses Quebec’s top judge of bias against Bill 21 Frédéric Bastien has filed formal complaint against Nicole Duval Hesler, chief justice of the Court of Appeal

December 2, 2019   

(CBC) A Quebec historian has launched a formal complaint against the chief justice of the province’s Court of Appeal over comments she made about the province’s religious symbols law. Frédéric Bastien, who teaches history at Dawson College, said taken together, Justice Nicole Duval […]

Children & Teens

Nigerian family facing deportation fear for their lives if sent back to Africa The Bakare family fled Nigeria out of fear their daughter would be subjected to female genital mutilation

November 30, 2019   

(CBC) Members of a Nigerian family living in Windsor say they fear for their lives as a result of media attention they’ve received after a deportation order previously issued by the Canadian government. Rasheedat Bakare, her husband Afeez, son Faaiq and daughter […]

Academics & Education

Amid political gamesmanship, some Quebec Muslim women enticed by offer to move to Manitoba 'Why wouldn't I go somewhere where I feel welcome?' asks one law student who wears a hijab

November 29, 2019   

(CBC) As a political spat plays out between Manitoba and Quebec over Bill 21, some Muslim women affected by the province’s ban on religious symbols say they are tempted by the offer to move to the Prairie province. Seeba Chaachouh, a third-year law […]

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

November 28, 2019   

(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 […]