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Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) Draws Attention to Gendered Islamophobia at the National Action Summit
Written by Canadian Council of Muslim WomenCCMW's Executive Director Nuzhat Jafri participated in the National Summit on Islamophobia earlier today to share the experiences and perspectives of CCMW members and of young women and girls on Islamophobia.
Nuzhat endorsed the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM)’ recommendations and put forward CCMW's own recommendations, which addressed the concerns of Canadian Muslim women and girls with a focus on gendered and Intersectional Islamophobia and gender-based violence (GBV).
The proposals were based on consultations with CCMW chapter members and other stakeholders, particularly young Black, queer, visible and non-visible Canadian Muslim women and young Muslim women with disabilities. These groups were recently invited to share their experiences of Islamophobia through CCMW’s Digital Anti-Racism Education (DARE) project. In addition, CCMW also hosted a Young People’s Roundtable on Islamophobia last week to provide young Muslim women a platform to air their views and discuss issues of concern.
Nuzhat used her time to highlight the urgent need to recognize the diversity of Canadian Muslim women and address the intersectional elements of Islamophobia. She drew attention to how Islamophobia is experienced differentially by each person, and how it intersects with other forms of discrimination such as anti-Black racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism. Likewise, she advocated for these voices to be provided a greater platform and to be included more actively in community consultations and policy discussions.
