“The One Law for All campaign’s research has shown that the collapse of civil marriages in Muslim communities has been used to spread the influence of sharia ‘courts’. Women are trapped in a legal limbo unable to divorce, and unable to remarry. We believe all marriages must be registered; but we support this judgement which voids the Muslim marriage contract. The government, which has failed to act against sharia councils, is now threatening to send women back to them, by closing off this remedy.“
END
For further information, contact:
Pragna Patel and Janaya Walker, Southall Black Sisters: pragna@southallblacksisters.co.uk, janaya@southallblacksisters.co.uk - 07985399740
Gita Sahgal and Maryam Namazie, One Law for All: www.onelawforall.org.uk
onelawforall@gmail.com - 07719166731
NOTES
1. The case in question is Akhter v Khan [2018] EWFC 54. The full judgment can be found here: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWFC/HCJ/2018/54.html
2. Southall Black Sisters is one of the UK’s leading women’s organisations for black and minority ethnic (BME) women. Established in 1979 we went on to set up an advice, resource, campaigning and advocacy centre with a particular focus on South Asian women. Whilst based in West London, we have a national reach. Our work by its very nature addresses issues of multiple or intersectional discrimination, involving the simultaneous experience of race, sex and other forms of discrimination. The bulk of our work is directed at assisting women and children - the overwhelming victims of domestic and other forms of gender-related violence - obtain effective protection and assert their fundamental human rights. For the last decade or so we have challenged the rise of religious fundamentalism and its impact on women’s rights, education and the law. See our website for more information: https://southallblacksisters.org.uk/…/religious-fundamenta…/
3. The One Law for All Campaign was launched on 10 December 2008, International Human Rights Day, to call on the UK Government to recognise that Sharia and religious courts are arbitrary and discriminatory against women and children in particular and that citizenship and human rights are non-negotiable. The Campaign aims to end Sharia and all religious courts on the basis that they work against, and not for, equality and human rights. See our website for more information: https://onelawforall.org.uk/10-years-of-one-law-for-all-ti…/
END
For further information, contact:
Pragna Patel and Janaya Walker, Southall Black Sisters: pragna@southallblacksisters.co.uk, janaya@southallblacksisters.co.uk - 07985399740
Gita Sahgal and Maryam Namazie, One Law for All: www.onelawforall.org.uk
onelawforall@gmail.com - 07719166731
NOTES
1. The case in question is Akhter v Khan [2018] EWFC 54. The full judgment can be found here: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWFC/HCJ/2018/54.html
2. Southall Black Sisters is one of the UK’s leading women’s organisations for black and minority ethnic (BME) women. Established in 1979 we went on to set up an advice, resource, campaigning and advocacy centre with a particular focus on South Asian women. Whilst based in West London, we have a national reach. Our work by its very nature addresses issues of multiple or intersectional discrimination, involving the simultaneous experience of race, sex and other forms of discrimination. The bulk of our work is directed at assisting women and children - the overwhelming victims of domestic and other forms of gender-related violence - obtain effective protection and assert their fundamental human rights. For the last decade or so we have challenged the rise of religious fundamentalism and its impact on women’s rights, education and the law. See our website for more information: https://southallblacksisters.org.uk/…/religious-fundamenta…/
3. The One Law for All Campaign was launched on 10 December 2008, International Human Rights Day, to call on the UK Government to recognise that Sharia and religious courts are arbitrary and discriminatory against women and children in particular and that citizenship and human rights are non-negotiable. The Campaign aims to end Sharia and all religious courts on the basis that they work against, and not for, equality and human rights. See our website for more information: https://onelawforall.org.uk/10-years-of-one-law-for-all-ti…/
Southall Black Sisters
Home - Southall Black Sisters
Originally set up in 1979, Southall Black Sisters (SBS) has established itself as an iconic organisation based in West London, but with a national reach and reputation for its landmark legal interventions, its contributions to changes in policy for the benefit…
Media is too big
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
Support Protests in Iraq: No Shiism, No Sunnism but Secularism
Bread and Roses TV with Maryam Namazie and Fariborz Pooya
Interview with Zara Kay, Founder of Faithless Hijabi on the veil and women’s rights
Translation and Subtitles: Bahram M.
Farsi programme will be distributed after broadcast in Iran on Saturdays 8:30pm Tehran time; 5pm London time
#Sunni
#Shia
#Islam
#Iraq
#Iran
#Secularism
#IraqProtests
#FaithlessHijabi
#Veil
#WomensRights
#Hijab
#ZaraKay
#MaryamNamazie
#FariborzPooya
on New Channel in Yahsat. فرکانس 11766 - Frequency. پلاریزاسیون عمودی - Vertical Polarisation. سیمبل ریت 27500 - Symbol Rate. FEC 5/6
You can also see the programme on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/breadandrosestv
Support Bread and Roses with as little as $1 a week:
https://www.patreon.com/BreadandRosesTV
You can also donate to the programme via Paypal
https://tinyurl.com/h84whyw
Telegram: https://t.me/MaryamNamazieTamas
Bread and Roses TV with Maryam Namazie and Fariborz Pooya
Interview with Zara Kay, Founder of Faithless Hijabi on the veil and women’s rights
Translation and Subtitles: Bahram M.
Farsi programme will be distributed after broadcast in Iran on Saturdays 8:30pm Tehran time; 5pm London time
#Sunni
#Shia
#Islam
#Iraq
#Iran
#Secularism
#IraqProtests
#FaithlessHijabi
#Veil
#WomensRights
#Hijab
#ZaraKay
#MaryamNamazie
#FariborzPooya
on New Channel in Yahsat. فرکانس 11766 - Frequency. پلاریزاسیون عمودی - Vertical Polarisation. سیمبل ریت 27500 - Symbol Rate. FEC 5/6
You can also see the programme on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/breadandrosestv
Support Bread and Roses with as little as $1 a week:
https://www.patreon.com/BreadandRosesTV
You can also donate to the programme via Paypal
https://tinyurl.com/h84whyw
Telegram: https://t.me/MaryamNamazieTamas
So looking forward to tonight's sold out Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize 2019 Centre for Women's Justice with the amazing Southall Black Sisters
Afsana Lachaux
Fiona MacKenzie
Holly Archer
Building Equality
Lilly Lewis
Magdalen Berns
Meena Patel
Rachel Horman
https://emmahumphreys.org/2019/10/03/2019-shortlist-announced/
Afsana Lachaux
Fiona MacKenzie
Holly Archer
Building Equality
Lilly Lewis
Magdalen Berns
Meena Patel
Rachel Horman
https://emmahumphreys.org/2019/10/03/2019-shortlist-announced/
So proud to be joint winner with the amazing @afsanalachaux. Thanks @EmmaHPrize @centreWJ for recognising how Sharia law is linked with violence against women. ❤️ Also so glad that Meena Patel of @SBSisters won lifetime achievement award & Lilly Lewis, Magdalen Berns recognised
Media is too big
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
از اعتراضات عراق پشتیبانی کنیم
نه شیعه، نه سنی بلکه سکولاریسم
برنامه نان و کل سرخ با مریم نمازی و فریبرز پویا.
مصاحبه با زهرا کی، بنیانگذار حجابی بی خدا در مورد حجاب و حقوق زن
ترجمه و زیر نویسی از بهرام م
#سنی
#شیعه
#اسلام
#عراق
#ایران
#سکولاریسم
#اعتراضات_عراق
#حجاب
#حقوق_زن
#فریبرز_پویا
#مریم_نمازی
هر شنبه در کانال جدید در Yahsat
فرکانس ۱۱۷۶۶ پلاریزاسیون عمودی FEC ۵/۶ سیمبل ریت ۲۶۵۰۰
برنامه نان و کل سرخ را در کانال یوتیوب میتوانند دنبال کنید و مشترک بشوید.
https://www.patreon.com/BreadandRosesTV
نان و گل سرخ را میتوانند با هفته ای یک دلار پشتیبانی کنید
https://tinyurl.com/h84whyw
تلگرام
https://t.me/MaryamNamazieTamas
نه شیعه، نه سنی بلکه سکولاریسم
برنامه نان و کل سرخ با مریم نمازی و فریبرز پویا.
مصاحبه با زهرا کی، بنیانگذار حجابی بی خدا در مورد حجاب و حقوق زن
ترجمه و زیر نویسی از بهرام م
#سنی
#شیعه
#اسلام
#عراق
#ایران
#سکولاریسم
#اعتراضات_عراق
#حجاب
#حقوق_زن
#فریبرز_پویا
#مریم_نمازی
هر شنبه در کانال جدید در Yahsat
فرکانس ۱۱۷۶۶ پلاریزاسیون عمودی FEC ۵/۶ سیمبل ریت ۲۶۵۰۰
برنامه نان و کل سرخ را در کانال یوتیوب میتوانند دنبال کنید و مشترک بشوید.
https://www.patreon.com/BreadandRosesTV
نان و گل سرخ را میتوانند با هفته ای یک دلار پشتیبانی کنید
https://tinyurl.com/h84whyw
تلگرام
https://t.me/MaryamNamazieTamas
#EqualityNotDiscrimination
#DontLockWomenOutOfJustice
#NoShariaLaw
Today and Tomorrow Nov 13/14
Royal Court of Appeals
From 9:30am
Join #onelawforall Southall Black Sisters IKWRO in defending equality for minority women
https://onelawforall.org.uk/significant-case-on-womens-rights-following-break-up-of-marriage-at-the-court-of-appeal/
#DontLockWomenOutOfJustice
#NoShariaLaw
Today and Tomorrow Nov 13/14
Royal Court of Appeals
From 9:30am
Join #onelawforall Southall Black Sisters IKWRO in defending equality for minority women
https://onelawforall.org.uk/significant-case-on-womens-rights-following-break-up-of-marriage-at-the-court-of-appeal/
Piece by the amazing Rahila Gupta on CNN
Does religion have a privileged status in the UK?
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/20/opinions/rahila-gupta-religion-privileged-status-uk/index.html
(CNN) - The tussle between parents of a terminally ill child and a hospital that wants to withdraw life support is a heartbreakingly familiar one.
Tafida Raqeeb, a 5-year old girl whose blood vessels ruptured in her brain in February, is the latest in a line of well-known cases like Charlie Gard, Alfie Evans and Isaiah Haastrup. Unlike in these cases, Tafida's parents won a rare victory in early October: They were allowed to transfer her to a hospital in Italy that has agreed to keep her on life support because Tafida does not meet their criteria for switching it off (which is being diagnosed as brain dead, and Tafida has not been). The judge gave due weight to "the religious and cultural tenets by which Tafida was being raised" in his decision. Doctors, and the lawyer representing the National Health Service trust that runs the hospital where Tafida was treated, had said more treatment would not help and would cause "physical degradation."
Shelina Begum has been crowdfunding for legal fees and her daughter's treatment in Italy.
While I fully sympathize with the parents' desperation for any support they could garner, what was worrying was that like in many other cases, religious groups offered support in order to further their own agenda.
Christian evangelicals opposed to euthanasia, abortion, same-sex marriage and the right to die provided legal assistance, people power and campaigning skills in the cases of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans. In the case of Tafida Raqeeb, religion raises its head yet again in a way unique to Islam; while it meant a victory for the Raqeeb family, it also sets a dangerous precedent for the role of religion in society, which can easily spill over into other issues of social policy.
The mother, Shelina Begum, despite being a British-trained solicitor, had obtained a fatwa (a religious ruling) from an adviser on the Islamic Council of Europe (ICE) which condemned the withdrawal of life support from Tafida as a "great sin" and "absolutely impermissible." Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad, an Islamic jurist, described the NHS proposal as a "killing" and asserted that "killing one soul is like killing the entire humanity." The Christian right has used similar language in this and other controversial cases.
Maryam Namazie, spokesperson for the British secular legal group One Law for All, the mission of which is to "bring an end to the use and institutionalisation of Sharia and all religious laws," calls the fatwa "yet another attempt by the religious-Right to impose their rulings into the proceedings of a civil court and normalise a regressive agenda."
Barts Health NHS, the trust which runs Royal London hospital, where Tafida was being treated, had applied to remove members of the family acting as litigation friends, arguing that they cannot be open-minded about the child's best interests in light of the fatwa. The family's barrister described it as an "outrageous" act of discrimination against the family member; the judge rejected the hospital's case.
Tafida's mother told the court of Tafida's commitment to her religion through her behavior, explaining how she would pray, participate in fasting and had requested to wear a headscarf. All of this had been voluntary. But what does voluntary mean in the context of a 5-year-old child who cannot, by definition, have an independent view of anything in life? David Lock QC, barrister for Tafida's parents, argued that in terms of commitment to religion, the family sat on the "upper end of the spectrum," so their religious beliefs should be weighed seriously. The family also argued for Tafida's freedom of movement under EU law. By extrapolation then, would the case of a secular family, similarly arguing for the extension of a child's life, be weaker?
Does religion have a privileged status in the UK?
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/20/opinions/rahila-gupta-religion-privileged-status-uk/index.html
(CNN) - The tussle between parents of a terminally ill child and a hospital that wants to withdraw life support is a heartbreakingly familiar one.
Tafida Raqeeb, a 5-year old girl whose blood vessels ruptured in her brain in February, is the latest in a line of well-known cases like Charlie Gard, Alfie Evans and Isaiah Haastrup. Unlike in these cases, Tafida's parents won a rare victory in early October: They were allowed to transfer her to a hospital in Italy that has agreed to keep her on life support because Tafida does not meet their criteria for switching it off (which is being diagnosed as brain dead, and Tafida has not been). The judge gave due weight to "the religious and cultural tenets by which Tafida was being raised" in his decision. Doctors, and the lawyer representing the National Health Service trust that runs the hospital where Tafida was treated, had said more treatment would not help and would cause "physical degradation."
Shelina Begum has been crowdfunding for legal fees and her daughter's treatment in Italy.
While I fully sympathize with the parents' desperation for any support they could garner, what was worrying was that like in many other cases, religious groups offered support in order to further their own agenda.
Christian evangelicals opposed to euthanasia, abortion, same-sex marriage and the right to die provided legal assistance, people power and campaigning skills in the cases of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans. In the case of Tafida Raqeeb, religion raises its head yet again in a way unique to Islam; while it meant a victory for the Raqeeb family, it also sets a dangerous precedent for the role of religion in society, which can easily spill over into other issues of social policy.
The mother, Shelina Begum, despite being a British-trained solicitor, had obtained a fatwa (a religious ruling) from an adviser on the Islamic Council of Europe (ICE) which condemned the withdrawal of life support from Tafida as a "great sin" and "absolutely impermissible." Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad, an Islamic jurist, described the NHS proposal as a "killing" and asserted that "killing one soul is like killing the entire humanity." The Christian right has used similar language in this and other controversial cases.
Maryam Namazie, spokesperson for the British secular legal group One Law for All, the mission of which is to "bring an end to the use and institutionalisation of Sharia and all religious laws," calls the fatwa "yet another attempt by the religious-Right to impose their rulings into the proceedings of a civil court and normalise a regressive agenda."
Barts Health NHS, the trust which runs Royal London hospital, where Tafida was being treated, had applied to remove members of the family acting as litigation friends, arguing that they cannot be open-minded about the child's best interests in light of the fatwa. The family's barrister described it as an "outrageous" act of discrimination against the family member; the judge rejected the hospital's case.
Tafida's mother told the court of Tafida's commitment to her religion through her behavior, explaining how she would pray, participate in fasting and had requested to wear a headscarf. All of this had been voluntary. But what does voluntary mean in the context of a 5-year-old child who cannot, by definition, have an independent view of anything in life? David Lock QC, barrister for Tafida's parents, argued that in terms of commitment to religion, the family sat on the "upper end of the spectrum," so their religious beliefs should be weighed seriously. The family also argued for Tafida's freedom of movement under EU law. By extrapolation then, would the case of a secular family, similarly arguing for the extension of a child's life, be weaker?
CNN
Does religion have a privileged status in the UK?
The tussle between parents of a terminally ill child and a hospital that wants to withdraw life support is a heartbreakingly familiar one.
As Namazie of One for All argues, "the law must be neutral so as not to privilege religious parents over those who are non-believers" -- and religious interests should not be the primary concern. Barts Health NHS deserves to be supported in its argument that the child's "best interests," as enshrined in the Children Act 1989, should outweigh the parents' religious interests. It is, of course, possible on the balance of medical evidence that the "best interests" of the child may have supported the parents' case -- but the issue here is the weight given to religious belief.
There have been many examples of brave individuals and institutions who have been vilified for trying to ensure a balance between religious interests and equal rights laws. The head of Anderton Park School in Birmingham faced vocal and intimidating protests against the so-called "sexualisation of children" since April this year, over its curriculum aiming to teach students about LGBTQ+ rights, through stories such as two male penguins struggling to have a baby. The protests were being coordinated by Islamic RSE, an organization set up to fight the introduction of relationship education, which is to be made compulsory in all primary schools in 2020. Christian conservatives joined the battle.
In 2018, the head teacher of a primary school in East London banned the hijab, given that Islamic tradition does not require girls to wear it before puberty -- and found herself in the middle of a storm of opposition from parents, community leaders and even the teachers' union, NEU. In 2013, Universities UK moved to allow sex segregation at the request of guest speakers representing religious groups. Organizations like One Law For All and Southall Black Sisters along with the National Secular Society campaigned against this open door to sex segregation until Universities UK withdrew its guidance.
The infusion of religion into law goes beyond cases involving medicine and education. In 2014, the Law Society withdrew its controversial guidance on sharia-compliant wills, under which women stood to lose an equal share of their inheritance, after pressure from the above groups.
It is this conflation of anti-racism and respect for religious rights that has hampered the fight to keep religion out of the public square. These are just a few examples of how religious conservatives are using the equalities legislation which protect religious rights and other policies which promote multiculturalism and multi-faithism to undermine the concept of one law for all and the right to equality of other protected groups such as women and LGBTQ+ groups. Institutions fearing a charge of racism capitulate to these demands and it falls to the vigilance of small secular groups to stop this encroachment.
There have been many examples of brave individuals and institutions who have been vilified for trying to ensure a balance between religious interests and equal rights laws. The head of Anderton Park School in Birmingham faced vocal and intimidating protests against the so-called "sexualisation of children" since April this year, over its curriculum aiming to teach students about LGBTQ+ rights, through stories such as two male penguins struggling to have a baby. The protests were being coordinated by Islamic RSE, an organization set up to fight the introduction of relationship education, which is to be made compulsory in all primary schools in 2020. Christian conservatives joined the battle.
In 2018, the head teacher of a primary school in East London banned the hijab, given that Islamic tradition does not require girls to wear it before puberty -- and found herself in the middle of a storm of opposition from parents, community leaders and even the teachers' union, NEU. In 2013, Universities UK moved to allow sex segregation at the request of guest speakers representing religious groups. Organizations like One Law For All and Southall Black Sisters along with the National Secular Society campaigned against this open door to sex segregation until Universities UK withdrew its guidance.
The infusion of religion into law goes beyond cases involving medicine and education. In 2014, the Law Society withdrew its controversial guidance on sharia-compliant wills, under which women stood to lose an equal share of their inheritance, after pressure from the above groups.
It is this conflation of anti-racism and respect for religious rights that has hampered the fight to keep religion out of the public square. These are just a few examples of how religious conservatives are using the equalities legislation which protect religious rights and other policies which promote multiculturalism and multi-faithism to undermine the concept of one law for all and the right to equality of other protected groups such as women and LGBTQ+ groups. Institutions fearing a charge of racism capitulate to these demands and it falls to the vigilance of small secular groups to stop this encroachment.
Defend #IranProtests #IraqProtests #LebanonProtests
از اعتراضات در #ایران، #عراق و #لبنان دفاع کنید
احم مظاهرات إيران، العراق ولبنان
https://maryamnamazie.com/defend-protests-in-iran-iraq-and-lebanon/
از اعتراضات در #ایران، #عراق و #لبنان دفاع کنید
احم مظاهرات إيران، العراق ولبنان
https://maryamnamazie.com/defend-protests-in-iran-iraq-and-lebanon/
British women ‘being forced into polygamous relationships’ because law lets them down, campaigners say, The Independent, 25 November 2019
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nasreen-akhter-mohammed-khan-case-marriage-divorce-a9212731.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nasreen-akhter-mohammed-khan-case-marriage-divorce-a9212731.html
The Independent
British women ‘being forced into polygamous relationships’
‘The government is always perfectly happy to relegate minority women to kangaroo courts and faith-based parallel legal systems’
Discussing apostasy from Islam, blasphemy and free expression with the brilliant Sarah Haider and Shabana Rehman Gaarder recently in Oslo. Really fantastic event organised by Ateistene and Human-Etisk Forbund Norway
https://youtu.be/PlMacmmK74U
https://youtu.be/PlMacmmK74U
YouTube
Den Utrolige Ateismen - Religionskritikk i møte med islam
Denne konferansen om religionskritikk og islam, og eks-muslimer, ble arrangert av Ateistene og Human-Etisk Forbund fredag 15.november 2019 på Clarion Hotel Oslo.
Konferansier var Shabana Rehman fra Født Fri som snakket om identitetspolitikk og satire. Våre…
Konferansier var Shabana Rehman fra Født Fri som snakket om identitetspolitikk og satire. Våre…
My piece in Solidarity
@workersliberty
on why banning child veiling is the right thing to do. Children not property of parents. Child veiling is a form of child abuse, promotes sex apartheid, inequality and rape culture.
https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2019-11-27/hijab-preventing-common-impositions
@workersliberty
on why banning child veiling is the right thing to do. Children not property of parents. Child veiling is a form of child abuse, promotes sex apartheid, inequality and rape culture.
https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2019-11-27/hijab-preventing-common-impositions
#HumanRightsDay
#StandUp4HumanRights
#Apostate
#ExMuslim
#Human
#ApostasyAHumanRIght
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB)
#روز_جهانی_حقوق_بشر
#مرتد
#انسان
#ارتداد_حقوق_انسانی_است
#StandUp4HumanRights
#Apostate
#ExMuslim
#Human
#ApostasyAHumanRIght
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB)
#روز_جهانی_حقوق_بشر
#مرتد
#انسان
#ارتداد_حقوق_انسانی_است
Dear friend
It has been heart-warming to know we have been able to help so many as a result of your support.
* Assistance to 600 ex-Muslims a month
* Monthly support groups in London and Birmingham
* Monthly socials for isolated members
* Monthly meet ups, including on empowerment through art, female genital mutilation and male circumcision, leaving faith behind, shunning, mental health and apostasy and religion, misogyny and atheism... Ana Gonzales, a Partner at Wilsons LLP, conducts regular workshops on asylum rights and apostasy for asylum seeking ex-Muslims.
All free of charge.
Ex-Muslim after ex-Muslim has said:
“I have finally found somewhere that I belong.”
“I feel at home here at CEMB.”
“I felt so alone until I found this family.”
In addition to assisting individuals wherever possible, we have co-organised an epic Celebrating Dissent Festival with De Balie in Amsterdam, campaigned against blasphemy and apostasy laws, brought attention to the adverse effects of child fasting during Ramadan, trained Malaysian government officials about apostasy, marched in Pride in London as the Imams of Perpetual Indulgence and more. You can see some of the highlights of the year on our website: https://www.ex-muslim.org.uk/2019/12/cemb-timeline/
But there is still so much to do.
As you know, we have already begun crowdfunding to establish the first shelter for ex-Muslims in the world so that we can provide emergency accommodation in the UK to those at serious risk to their lives because of their apostasy from Islam. Thanks to those of you who have given so generously to this project. If you haven’t already and are able to donate, please help this important project. If you have an apartment we can use - even short-term – do also let us know.
With this crowdfunding campaign, we hope to provide a long-term and safe solution for those at greatest risk. Here is more information on the JustGiving campaign in case you can help (we have already reached 71% of our goal): https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/exmuslimrefuge. We have also started a Patreon campaign for those who wish to support our efforts for emergency shelter on a monthly basis: https://www.patreon.com/CEMB. You can also donate via our website: https://www.ex-muslim.org.uk/donate/.
Thanks again for your support.
We wish you a wonderful holiday and happy New Year and look forward to working together in 2020.
Warmest wishes
Maryam and Sadia
Maryam Namazie and Sadia Hameed
Spokespersons
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB)
www.ex-muslim.org.uk
hello@ex-muslim.org.uk
It has been heart-warming to know we have been able to help so many as a result of your support.
* Assistance to 600 ex-Muslims a month
* Monthly support groups in London and Birmingham
* Monthly socials for isolated members
* Monthly meet ups, including on empowerment through art, female genital mutilation and male circumcision, leaving faith behind, shunning, mental health and apostasy and religion, misogyny and atheism... Ana Gonzales, a Partner at Wilsons LLP, conducts regular workshops on asylum rights and apostasy for asylum seeking ex-Muslims.
All free of charge.
Ex-Muslim after ex-Muslim has said:
“I have finally found somewhere that I belong.”
“I feel at home here at CEMB.”
“I felt so alone until I found this family.”
In addition to assisting individuals wherever possible, we have co-organised an epic Celebrating Dissent Festival with De Balie in Amsterdam, campaigned against blasphemy and apostasy laws, brought attention to the adverse effects of child fasting during Ramadan, trained Malaysian government officials about apostasy, marched in Pride in London as the Imams of Perpetual Indulgence and more. You can see some of the highlights of the year on our website: https://www.ex-muslim.org.uk/2019/12/cemb-timeline/
But there is still so much to do.
As you know, we have already begun crowdfunding to establish the first shelter for ex-Muslims in the world so that we can provide emergency accommodation in the UK to those at serious risk to their lives because of their apostasy from Islam. Thanks to those of you who have given so generously to this project. If you haven’t already and are able to donate, please help this important project. If you have an apartment we can use - even short-term – do also let us know.
With this crowdfunding campaign, we hope to provide a long-term and safe solution for those at greatest risk. Here is more information on the JustGiving campaign in case you can help (we have already reached 71% of our goal): https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/exmuslimrefuge. We have also started a Patreon campaign for those who wish to support our efforts for emergency shelter on a monthly basis: https://www.patreon.com/CEMB. You can also donate via our website: https://www.ex-muslim.org.uk/donate/.
Thanks again for your support.
We wish you a wonderful holiday and happy New Year and look forward to working together in 2020.
Warmest wishes
Maryam and Sadia
Maryam Namazie and Sadia Hameed
Spokespersons
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB)
www.ex-muslim.org.uk
hello@ex-muslim.org.uk
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain - CEMB
CEMB Timeline (2007-2021) | Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain - CEMB
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) was formed to break the taboo that comes with leaving Islam, highlight the plight of ex-Muslims, and challenge Sharia, apostasy and blasphemy laws. CEMB stands against all forms of bigotry, xenophobia, racism and extremism…
Join Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) and Born Free for an evening of Film, Discussion and Poetry to mark 8 March, International Women’s Day
Sunday 8 March 2020, 5:30pm for 6:00pm start until 9:00pm
Central London
Tickets: £7 waged; £5 unwaged, including students and pensioners. No tickets sold at door.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/no-longer-without-you-film-and…
UK film screening of “No Longer Without You”
'I will not do what you say. I’ll follow my own path, but I will not let myself be cast out. I will be different, but No Longer Without You.'
he film screening will be followed by poetry by Playwright and Poet Mwhamadu Kuusi and a panel discussion on Apostasy, Shunning and Survival with Actress Nazmiye Oral, Youtuber Fay Rahman, Journalist Khadija Khan, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain Spokesperson Sadia Hameed, Clinical Psychologist Savin Bapir-Tardy and Born Free Director Shabana Rehman. Chair: CEMB Spokesperson Maryam Namazie.
Sunday 8 March 2020, 5:30pm for 6:00pm start until 9:00pm
Central London
Tickets: £7 waged; £5 unwaged, including students and pensioners. No tickets sold at door.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/no-longer-without-you-film-and…
UK film screening of “No Longer Without You”
'I will not do what you say. I’ll follow my own path, but I will not let myself be cast out. I will be different, but No Longer Without You.'
he film screening will be followed by poetry by Playwright and Poet Mwhamadu Kuusi and a panel discussion on Apostasy, Shunning and Survival with Actress Nazmiye Oral, Youtuber Fay Rahman, Journalist Khadija Khan, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain Spokesperson Sadia Hameed, Clinical Psychologist Savin Bapir-Tardy and Born Free Director Shabana Rehman. Chair: CEMB Spokesperson Maryam Namazie.
Devastated to learn that the lovely Nourhan Nassar, a CEMB member since 2015 and the first group of ex-Muslims to take part in #exmuslimbecause had died in her sleep at the age of 25. She was loved by many of us and will be greatly missed. What a loss.