By Dominic Casciani
BBC Home Affairs Reporter
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Leading
Muslim women are being brought together to advise ministers in a new tactic
to root out extremism.
The Muslim Women's Advisory Group is to be
launched after the government came under pressure to help women in the Muslim
community gain a greater say.
The group of 19 women assembled by
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears is to work as part of a grassroots
counter-terrorism strategy.
But some warn they face a tough time
winning community trust.
Statistics and research show that Muslim
women tend to be more marginalised than men - and in some communities face an
uphill struggle to be heard outside their own homes.
Officials hope that greater support for a
"silent majority" of women, including mentoring leaders, will help
prevent terrorism by leaving them better placed to identify and block
extremists radicalising young Muslims.
But the BBC has learned that some of the
women invited to join the group have already faced direct criticism from
inside their own communities, amid fears they are being recruited to
"inform" for government.
And some have already warned officials
their work will be fatally undermined if it is presented purely as a
counter-terrorism measure, rather than a broader attempt to tackle
inequalities.
Shaista Gohir, an activist from Birmingham
and director of polling organisation Muslim Voice UK, said that the women who
had signed up wanted to make a positive lasting difference in their
communities, rather than be seen as just another counter-terrorism prong.
'Greater role'
"I would not be involved if I did not
think I could do something positive. It's good that government is at last
listening to Muslim women - until now it has been just token gestures,"
she said.
"I hope we can help government to
understand how to assist Muslim women to play a greater role in civic or
public life.
"Extremism is just one of the long
list of things we want to address. If Muslim women can be empowered they can
make a difference.
"But it is not something that happens
overnight. If we are going to do anything to tackle extremism then that will
probably be a long-term indirect impact. We're talking about a generational
thing."
But a group which specialises in engaging
with Islamic communities was sceptical about the plan.
Addressing problems
Huda Jawad from Forward Thinking said:
"On past experience the government has not been successful in reaching
the grass roots.
"There's already a real danger the
£70m allocated to the Muslim community last autumn will not have any
impact."
She said Muslim women were already at the
forefront of the fight against extremism as no mother would want her son to
become a suicide bomber.
The group says its own research suggests a
more effective way of countering extremism is for the government to spend
more time talking to communities and addressing their problems, such as lack
of education and employment.
Forward Thinking also says its research
suggests Muslim women feel more emancipated, self-reliant and ambitious than
is commonly thought. In fact, young Muslim men were most marginalised and in
need of help.
The Department for Communities is expected
to fund some women's projects from its £70m earmarked for counter-extremism
measures.
Forward Thinking is due to brief civil
servants regularly on their progress in helping Muslim women.