International

Six female human rights defenders you should know

Samah Hadid is a global human rights activist from Australia and a member of WLUML's Council. You can follow her work @samahhadid.

As a human rights activist, I know too well the unwavering determination needed to defend the rights of society's most vulnerable and marginalised.

For many activists and human rights defenders, especially women, this struggle for freedom often comes with persecution, imprisonment, exile and political attacks.

WE are being slaughtered by YOUR secondary enemy!

OPEN LETTER TO THE LEFT AND FAR LEFT

If you would like to sign on to this letter, please email Fatou Sow at fatou@wluml.org

Le Piège Intégriste

Fatou Sow, Directrice International, WLUML

Les attentats des 7 et 9 janvier 2015 contre la rédaction de Charlie Hebdo et un supermarché juif et à Paris ont causé de profondes émotions et affecté toutes les sensibilités.

WLUML Annual Report 2013

Gender equality: Building our strength together

Annual Report 2013 Women Living Under Muslim Laws

Please download the pdf for the full report.

International Conference on the Religious Right, Secularism and Civil Rights

Via SecularConference.com

Watch videos from the conference here

The two-day International Conference on the Religious Right, Secularism and Civil Rights held in London during 11-12 October 2014 was a rousing success. A broad coalition of secularists, including believers, free-thinkers, agnostics and atheists assembled from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the Diaspora at the unprecedented and historic gathering to discuss resistance against the repression and violence of ISIS and other manifestations of the religious-Right, including in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Israel, Libya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey, Tunisia and Yemen.

16 Days of Activism: Remembering Our Roots, Looking Forward

27th November 2014 -

By Edna Aquino

This week marks the beginning of the yearly commemoration of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence - a global campaign initiated and led by women's groups and movements in many parts of the world which put the spotlight on this pandemic. I have been a part of this campaign since its beginnings and through the lenses it has given me on why women are being targeted and subjected to the most inhuman manifestations of oppression, my feminist outlook has been sharpened and my activism for women's rights became an integral part of who I am. I am now a 62 year old feminist and human rights activist and on the road to slowing down while casting my vision to new fields where I can still be useful to my causes within my given limitations.

Let's Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!

25th November 2014-

It has never been more imperative to take action toward ending gender-based violence and militarism. From the terrorism of the likes of ISIS and Boko Haram, to the threats of Western-led imperialism, down to personal lives marred by cultures of masculinist violence, women all over the world face insecurity owing to patriarchal and militaristic violence.

Manifeste pour la laïcité

Notre époque est marquée par la montée des extrême-droites religieuses – non pas parce qu’on assisterait à un revivalisme religieux mais plutôt au fait que des mouvements politiques d’extrême-droite et des gouvernements utilisent la religion pour asseoir leur suprématie politique. C’est une conséquence directe du néo-conservatisme et du néo-libéralisme ainsi que des politiques sociales de communautarisme et de relativisme culturel. L’universalisme, la laïcité et les droits liés à la citoyenneté sont abandonnés et ce sont la ségrégation des sociétés en ‘communautés’ basées sur l’ethnicité, la religion et la culture qui deviennent la norme.

Manifesto for Secularism

Our era is marked by the rise of the religious-Right – not because of a “religious revival” but rather due to the rise of far-Right political movements and states using religion for political supremacy. This rise is a direct consequence of neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism and the social policies of communalism and cultural relativism. Universalism, secularism and citizenship rights have been abandoned and segregation of societies and “communities” based on ethnicity, religion and culture have become the norm.

Why Bill Maher and Ben Affleck Are Both Wrong

When I watched Bill Maher -- with whom I agree about many other issues -- talk about Islam on his show "Real Time" last Friday night, I felt as though my father's life story was being erased.