Building upon its rich history of advocacy for Muslim women and their families and the creation of innovative projects that encourage civic engagement, community development and inter-cultural understanding, 2012-2013 has been a busy and exciting time for the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW). This year we proudly celebrated the 30th Anniversary of our cross-national organization. Since its beginnings in 1982, CCMW has proudly drawn upon faith and social justice in order to ensure the equality, equity and empowerment of Muslim women and to enrich Canadian society as a whole.
Our executive director, Alia Hogben made her mark on Canadian history in 2012 by being awarded the Order of Canada for her work in the area of women’s rights, making her the second Canadian Muslim woman to be awarded the prestigious title. However, as Alia firmly establishes, far from an individual accomplishment, the Order is a testament to the collective spirit and hard work of CCMW and its members.
In January 2012, CCMW joined forces with the international Musawah network to participate in a groundbreaking knowledge building initiative. Critically re-examining traditional readings of male authority (Qiwamah and Wilayah) in Muslim family laws, (i.e. divorce, marriage, custody, inheritance, finance and sexual and reproductive rights) the project aims to offer gender-equal understandings of these concepts in order to deconstruct gendered inequalities within society and Muslim households. CCMW has been working to better understand these concepts by producing research which will be used for the upcoming publication. The cross-national report will be compiled and available for download this summer on the CCMW and Musawah website.
In March, CCMW initiated a study on Muslim women and the niqab. Conducting a series of surveys, interviews and focus groups with Muslim women who wear and do not wear the face veil, the goal of the project is to allow Muslim women to speak for themselves. It is our hope that our report, authored by Professor Lynda Clarke (Concordia University), will build a greater understanding of the complexities surrounding the niqab for policy makers, media officials, researchers and members of the public alike. The final publication (in French and English) will be available on CCMW’s website in summer 2014.
2012 also marked the year that CCMW launched its project which focuses on violence against women (VAW). Entitled “Violence Against Women: Health and Justice for Canadian Muslim Women,” the project aims to tackle four aspects of violence found within the Muslim community: Domestic violence, Femicide, Forced Marriage and Female Genital Cutting. The overarching goal of the project is to empower women and girls with the tools to address misappropriated cultural influences that may lead to violence and to increase the capacity of social workers to help those facing these challenges. With the help of legal expert Pamela Cross and Islamic scholar Asma Barlas, CCMW has developed a publication to be released this July 2013 on our website, training kits and workshops for social service providers and members of Muslim communities. Workshops will be held this summer and winter.
This year also brought an end to our successful Common Ground Project. The national youth-led inter-faith and inter-cultural initiative, mobilized a cross-national network of over 200 youth from 10 cities across the country. Young Canadians developed practical projects and activities for their local communities in order to address local issues of shared concern, and in the process fostered dialogue, citizenship and civic pride.
We are grateful to NCWC for their help this year at the United Nations. With its generous assistance, CCMW was able to participate at the United Nation’s 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Nazila Isgandarova represented CCMW where she delivered a workshop on the interpretations of religious text, gender equality and domestic abuse. Read her reflections in her blog posts: NGOs Expectations of the CSW57 and National Governments and UN CSW 57th Session: Domestic Violence and Human Rights.
Finally this past spring, CCMW re-launched its website and social media platform. We encourage all members of the National Council of Women of Canada to subscribe to our list serve and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. For more information about CCMW or any of our projects please contact: ccmwcanada@gmail.com
