The position paper on "Religion and women’s human
rights", highlights the
concerns of EWL that cultural and religious
practices, which systematically
discriminate against women, are often
placed within a cultural framework
when in fact they constitute
violations of women’s human rights. Religious
and cultural practices
therefore should never be justified in the name of
religion, culture
or tradition. The paper also supports the Council of
Europe’s
Resolution on "Women and religion in Europe", adopted in
September
2005, and calls on EU Member States to implement this
resolution
immediately. Fourteen demands are highlighted in the
position paper and call
for, inter alia, condemnation of female
genital mutilation, honour crimes
and all forms of violence against
women that are carried out in the name of
religion, seek to guarantee
the sexual and reproductive rights of all women
without religious or
cultural distinctions and to ensure that women exist
within their own
right and not indirectly through their husbands, fathers,
sons or any
other male relative. This paper is available in English and French.
Religion and women’s human rights (pdf)
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