Forum: UN Women

Issue: Protecting Women’s Rights in Religious Communities

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Introduction
In an era where empowerment of women is at the forefront, the status of men is still elevated over that
of women in most religion. Violations of women’s rights continue in the name of religion by both state
actors and non-state actors because the line between restrictions and violations is often ambiguous, and
the role to draw line between them is highly deputed to religious communities. Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and other human rights regime states that
culture, custom, or religion should not condone violations of human rights which includes the women’s
rights.

However, the confrontation between Freedom of Religion and Belief (FORB) and women’s rights has
become the most intractable clashes between religious claims and human rights with numerous
religious norms and traditions that put women into a subordinate and submissive role in society and
contribute to the formation of gender inequalities through sanctions against women.

This report aims to discuss the abuse experienced by religiously identified women and ways to protect
women’s rights in religious communities with the belief that no woman should be forced to choose
between safety and her religious community.

Key Terminology
Freedom of Religion or Belief (FORB): Freedom of Religion or Belief is a fundamental right of every
human being. It is addressed in Articles 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), stating
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to
change religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.”

Patriarchy: A social system in which men are ranked superior to women. In patriarchal system, men
own more authority in the varying areas of society from politics to family.

Background
History: Women have always been part of the world’s religions, actively participating in religious
activities. On the contrary, the treatment and leadership roles of women in religious settings and belief
systems are unequal to that of men. Texts, traditions, teachings, and doctrine of religions reinforce
different roles to men and women, which in most cases state that men’s primary role is to control
women while women’s primary role is to support men.
Looking at the history, women took part in innovations and new ideas to lead the way of their religion
but were transformed into male dominance system consistently. Henrietta Mears, the Christian
educator and evangelist was the founder in the field of Christian Education, which now is dominated by
men with advanced academic degrees in Christian Education.

Not only the limited role of women in religions, violence, and abuse against women in religions are
problems that started with the founding of many patriarchal religions. While the beliefs and teachings of
religions do not directly address the abuse and violence against women, they overlook the violence
against women of their adherents. The religious sanctions against women that are generally more
stringent and doctrines relating to gender and gender roles are frequently used as justifications of
violence against women.

Christianity
Christianity is largest of the world’s religions and one of the three Abrahamic faiths, based on the life
and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. Christian texts contain stories
that condone men’s violation against women. For example, Friar Cherubino wrote in the “Rule of
Marriage” in the 15th century about chastisement of husband against wife in order to rebuke and rule
his wife. Ephesians 5.22-24 NRSV (New Revised Standard Version of Bible) states “Wives be subject to
your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head
of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives
ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.” These doctrines are used as a confirmation and
justification of male dominance over women and tacit acceptance of wife abuse. According to the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, men who abuse women actually use Ephesians 5:22 to
justify their behaviors. Although patriarchal tendencies in Christianity is not the direct cause of all abuse
against women, it is still a significant factor that rather defends the abusers and victims to take “forget
and forgive” behavior.

Recently, the Catholic church has been accused of covering up sexual abuse committed by priests
against nuns. Last November, the Catholic Church's global organization for nuns denounced the "culture
of silence and secrecy" that prevented victims from speaking out. The clerical abuse of nuns has
constantly occurred in the past, but there were yet no significant actions done to protect nuns by the
church. Just to list a few that have been publicized, in India last year, a bishop was arrested over
allegations that he raped a nun 13 times between 2014 and 2016. In Chile, reports of abuse of nuns
carried out by priests led the Vatican to launch an investigation last year. The women were reportedly
removed from the order after highlighting the abuse. Last year, the Associated Press news agency
reported cases of abuse in Italy and Africa.

Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion and believes in the only one God, Allah, and the teaching of
Muhammad the messenger of God. Islam enshrined in immutable law by Mohammad and eventually
recorded in scripture. Qur’an’s directives have great influence on contemporary law of most countries
under Islamic states or under the influence of Islam. It must be noted that equality between men and
women has been underlay in Qur’an with a phrase stating “The believers, men, and women, are allies of
one another. They enjoin the ‘common good’ and forbid the bad, they observe prayers and give
charitable alms and obey God and his Prophet” (Qur’an, 9:71). However, most of traditional and classical
exegesis, this verse about the alliance between men and women is skimmed and interpreted rather
loosely and is not considered as the foundation of Islam while the Qur’anic principle – enjoining the
common good (al ma‘ruf) and forbidding the bad (al munkar) – is considered to be of major importance.
This shows how the exact same formulation in the Qur’an is interpreted with a different degree of
significance when it is about gender equality that is contrasting to the traditional patriarchy of society.
With this in mind, it must be understood that liberation and equality can be achieved in Islam society in
ways other than Muslim women extricating from the religion entirely.

Many laws of Islam repress women with a view of women as inferior gender. First, women in Muslim
nations like Iran and Saudi Arabia are legally obliged to dress in certain ways and if not legally obliged,
cultural and social pressure impose it. Women are required to wear hijab as a tool to control their
sexuality. Hijab limits women’s physical movements and their free behavior. On contrary to the law, the
Qur’an requires demand gender to "cover up and be modest" where the term ‘modesty’ is open to
personal interpretation. This again suggests that the oppression of women lies in preventing women
from interpreting the Qur’an for themselves. It is the regime’s enforcement of dress code and social and
cultural expectation of women that oppress women, not the hijab itself. Thus, it is necessary to view
Islam’s violation of women’s rights in faith-positive perspective rather than simply denying the religion.
When it is chosen by a woman independently to wear hijab as a religious ritual, it cannot be considered
as oppression because the liberation and equality lie in the freedom of choice. Secondly, Islamic law
gives the right to divorce without a reason and a discretion of woman. Thirdly, women do not have
custody over their children even when her husband dies or when she is divorced.

Freedom of Religions and Women’s rights

Violation of women’s rights is not only limited to Christian or Islamic society but prevails in most of
existing religions as they base their teaching from old gender patriarchal society. So, is freedom of
religion holding down women’s rights? To answer this question, freedom of religion must be clarified. It
is a human right that resides in the individual, not in a religious tradition. Religious freedom does not
protect religious belief or religious institutions from challenge due to its unequal treatment of women.
Utilizing the true meaning of religious freedom, restrictions on the right of women to challenge religious
beliefs and practices are violations of their religious freedom. Through this process, religion can evolve
and change to a more suitable form of current society.

Major Parties Involved

Sister in Islam (SIS)
Sisters in Islam is a civil society organization committed to promoting a progressive and democratic
Islam where freedom of expression, gender equality and social justice for all are upheld. They aim to
achieve gender equality in Islam and empower women to become advocates for change. Women’s UN
Report Network (WUNRN) WUNRN is a nonprofit organization (NPO) based on a UN Study, on the status
of women, religion or belief, and traditions. WUNRN provides authentic information on women’s rights
issues.
 Iran
Iran is a country in which ratified the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination
Against Women. Iranian women, even the young female kids, are legally required to wear hijab in public.
Once married, women are prohibited from leaving the country without permission from their husband.

Recently, Iran’s Islamic government has been challenged by Iranian who pulled off their hijabs in public
squares. This protest movement started with a young woman who took off her hijab and hoisted it
overhead on a stick for everyone to see in January 2018. The photo of her spread across social media
and motivated dozens of Iranian women to participate in the hijab protests.

Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabian women experience a serious level of discrimination in many aspects of life due to a
stringent application of Islamic law. Sex segregation and male guardianship are obstacles to women’s
autonomy which undermines the legal capacity of women as adults, and their ability to participate in the
full range of activities available in society and in the workplace. Commission for the Promotion of Virtue
and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), popularly known as hay’at or mutawwa, are religious police who
enforce the Islamic law. However, CPVPV abuse, harass, threaten and arrest women who do not follow
the expected religious norms such as hijab and niqab, a face veil while the religious norm is left to the
interpretation of the individual mutawwa.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

(CEDAW)
CEDAW is a body of independent experts on women’s issue all around the world. It is responsible to
monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in
nations. State parties are expected to report regularly to CEDAW about how the implementations are
done. As a response, the Committee recommends possible solutions to the concerns of the state parties.

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

Commission on the Status of Women is a global intergovernmental body dedicated to achieving gender
equality and the empowerment of women. They open annual sessions for discussions with priority
themes regarding women’s rights at that time.

Timeline of Events

 June 21, 1946 Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was established in functional
commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Council resolution 11(II).
 September 3, 1981 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) was instituted by the United Nations General Assembly.
 September, 1995 The Fourth World Conference on Women was hosted in Beijing. This
conference led to Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action with objectives to address 12
aspects of women’s rights such as women in poverty, education and training of women, violence
against women, women in power and decision making, they took one step further form here by
explaining the actions to be taken in national, regional, subregional, and international level.
  June 5, 2000 23rd special session of the General Assembly was held at the United Nations
Headquarters in New York to review the implementation of Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action. Governments and the international community were reaffirmed their commitment to
the Platform for Action and gender equality. 199 actions such as “Closure of the gender gap in
primary and secondary education” and “creation and maintenance of a non-discriminatory, as
well as gender sensitive legal environment” were agreed on to be taken at the national and
international levels by Governments, the United Nations system, international and regional
organizations, including international financial institutions, the private sector, non-
governmental organizations and other actors of civil society.
 January 1, 2015 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development came into force. The SDG contains “Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower
all women and girls” and the 2030 Agenda states “Realizing gender equality and the
empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution to progress across all the
Goals and targets.”

Previous Attempts/Solutions
Faith and Feminism Working Groups to the United Nation
Faith and Feminism Working Groups to the United Nation was formed in 2015 for constructive and
collaborative negotiation between religion and gender equality with the support of UN Women. They
provide insight into the gender equality issues in relation to religion by representing religious and
cultural diversity. They organize events to address the conflict between FORB and feminism, faith and
feminist advocacy at the UN, women in social media, and reflection on bringing faith and feminist
advocacy to CSW 2016.

Musawah
Musawah means equality in Arabic, and is a global movement towards gender equality and justice in
Islam family. In order to promote and protect women in Islam family and society from discrimination
and violence, it brings together NGOs, activists, scholars, legal practitioners, policy makers and
grassroots women and men.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

(CEDAW)
Although CEDAW has been working hard to implement the convention, a number of States entered
reservation to certain articles because their national law, tradition, religion or culture are not congruent
with Convention principles. Especially religion is one of the major reasons as religious beliefs influence
the national law greatly in many countries. Therefore, there has been inherent conflict between the
provisions of the State's constitution and its reservation to the Convention.

Potential Solutions
 Formulate transparent criterions for decision-making positions in religions and ensure that the
selecting bodies have a gender-balanced composition by fixing exact gender ratio at the
governmental level.
 Address and recognize that the root factor of violence against women is historically unequal
power relations between men and women shaped by old religious belief and interpretation of
belief dominated and entitled to men, resulting in misinterpretation.
 Eliminate and prohibit any harmful aspect of religions’ traditional, customary, and modern
practices that violate women’s rights.