ENAR project “Forgotten women: the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women”

Long-term goal of ENAR’s strategy on Islamophobia Ensure that Member States recognise the specific form of racism affecting Muslim communities and act politically to address the consequences of Islamophobia leading to the exclusion of Muslims.

Muslim women are often easily identifiable (clothing but also names, ethnicity, etc.) Stereotypes on Muslim women are widespread in public discourse and in the media:  translated into an increase in cases of discrimination against Muslim women and high level of exclusion.  have an impact on the way equality laws are sometimes interpreted.  barriers to the development of an intersectional approach and the examination of discrimination cases with a gender equality perspective. Analysis of the issue

Muslim women and their experience of discrimination understood as based on the ground of religion:  can be misleading as it does not grasp the complexity of discrimination affecting women  multiple discrimination is rarely monitored and not prohibited in legislation  religion:religious practices are often considered as intrinsically contrary to gender equality.  Muslim women end up less protected Analysis of the issue

Document the disproportionate effect of Islamophobia on Muslim women Objectives No pan-European research analysing multiple discrimination affecting Muslim women Analysis Foster debates and alliances between the anti- racist and feminist movements Counter stereotypes about Muslim women including within the feminist movement Provide analysis to improve the implementation of equality law Religion is often considered as intrinsically contrary to gender equality EC and MS difficulty to tackle lack of implementation of EU Directives in cases related to Muslim women Most mainstream feminist groups had not so far worked consistently on the issue of Islamophobia 8 national reports 1 European Comparative report National roundtables Re-granting scheme for local projects Debunking myth publication Video Workshop with litigators and lawyers European Symposium Outputs

1.increased monitoring of the impact of multiple discrimination affecting Muslim women with the comparative analysis of 8 countries 2.increased awareness and support of generalist feminist/women organisations to Muslim women in their struggle for full equality and increased understanding of the gendered aspect of Islamophobia by anti-racism organisations 3.increased number of common initiatives and discussion spaces between generalist feminist and anti-racist/Muslim activists at local level 4.increased recognition of Islamophobia as a specific form of racism with a gender specific impact by EU stakeholders and national authorities 5.the European Commission commits to moving towards specific policy goals for Member States to combat Islamophobia including its impact on women 6.increased awareness for victim support groups, litigators and Muslim women victims of discrimination on the possibility to lodge claims on the ground of gender and to ask for referral to the CJEU on religion cases Expected results from the project

Action Research overview of the legislation, practices, debates and opinions related to Muslim women’s experience of discrimination in employment and of racist violence/speech + policy recommendations Consultation/ Participation to discuss findings of the project and foster debates and partnerships Reach-out/Awareness- raising strategic partnership with EWL’s national members and communication work Coordinated advocacy work to inform and influence policy and legislative developments affecting Muslim women Steering-group (key partners) Project’s phases 8 national roundtables + re-granting scheme for local projects 8 national reports and 1 comparative report European symposium, bi-lateral advocacy meetings and a workshop for lawyers and litigators 3 2 1

Muslim women suffer from the same inequalities all women experience but these are compounded by additional factors, including discrimination based on ethnicity and religion. Testimonies reveal a deep feeling of exclusion, reinforced by the institutional character of the discrimination. Different strategies to avoid or minimize the risk of being discriminated against: self-exclusion, drop out, alternative choice, etc. First findings

Employment: Headscarf is a serious obstacle in finding and keeping a job (not just when it is worn) CV testing methods in France and Germany Muslim and headscarf penalties combined with gender penalty Legislative measures related to Islam are mainly targeting women: structural dimension Racist crime: FR: in 2014, 81.5% of islamophobic acts and speeches targeted Muslim women (almost 100% of victims of physical aggressions) UK: in 2014, up to 70% of victims are women Sexist insults in a lot of cases, esp. in France First findings

Disaggregate data on religious discrimination complaints by other grounds such as gender to better understand the phenomenon Increase engagement with civil society organisations and religious communities to understand their challenges and needs Launch public campaigns which are inclusive and representative of the victims to increase rights’ awareness and debunk society’s stereotypes Explore ways to use gender ground of discrimination when going to court in cases of discrimination against Muslim women Preliminary recommendations to equality bodies

Thank you Julie Pascoet, project coordinator ENAR Policy officer