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Resolution
1464 (2005)1
Women and Religion in Europe
1. In the lives of many European women,
religion continues to play an important role. Whether they are believers
or not, most women are affected in one way or another by the attitude of
different faiths towards women, directly or through their traditional
influence on society or the State.
2. This influence is seldom benign:
women’s rights are often curtailed or violated in the name of religion.
While most religions teach equality of women and men before God, they
attribute different roles to women and men on earth. Religiously
motivated gender stereotypes have conferred upon men a sense of
superiority which has led to discriminatory treatment of women by men and
even violence at their hands.
3. At one end of the spectrum lie the
extreme violations of women’s human rights such as so-called “honour”
crimes, forced marriages and female genital mutilation, which – although
still rare in Europe – are on the rise in some communities.
4. At the other end are more subtle and
less spectacular forms of intolerance and discrimination which are much
more widespread in Europe – and which can be just as effective in
achieving the subjection of women, such as the refusal to put into
question a patriarchal culture which holds up the role of wife, mother
and housewife as the ideal, and the refusal to adopt positive measures in
favour of women (for example, in parliamentary elections).
5. All women living in Council of
Europe member states have a right to equality and dignity in all areas of
life. Freedom of religion cannot be accepted as a pretext to justify
violations of women’s rights, be they open or subtle, legal or illegal,
practised with or without the nominal consent of the victims – women.
6. It is the duty of the member states
of the Council of Europe to protect women against violations of their
rights in the name of religion and to promote and fully implement gender
equality. States must not accept any religious or cultural relativism of
women’s human rights. They must not agree to justify discrimination and
inequality affecting women on grounds such as physical or biological
differentiation based on or attributed to religion. They must fight
against religiously motivated stereotypes of female and male roles from
an early age, including in schools.
7. The Parliamentary Assembly thus
calls on the member states of the Council of Europe to:
7.1. fully protect all women living in
their country against all violations of their rights based on or attributed
to religion by:
7.1.1. putting into place and enforcing
specific and effective policies to fight all violations of women’s right
to life, to bodily integrity, freedom of movement and free choice of
partner, including so-called “honour” crimes, forced marriage and female
genital mutilation, wherever and by whomever they are committed, however
they are justified, and regardless of the nominal consent of the victim;
this means that freedom of religion is limited by human rights;
7.1.2. refusing to recognise foreign
family codes and personal status laws based on religious principles which
violate women’s rights, and ceasing to apply them on their own soil,
renegotiating bilateral treaties if necessary;
7.2. take a stand against violations of
women’s human rights justified by religious or cultural relativism
everywhere in the world, including in international fora such as the
United Nations or the Inter-Parliamentary Union;
7.3. guarantee the separation between
the Church and the State which is necessary to ensure that women are not
subjected to religiously inspired policies and laws (for example, in the
area of family, divorce, and abortion law);
7.4. ensure that freedom of religion
and respect for culture and tradition are not accepted as pretexts to justify
violations of women’s rights, including when underage girls are forced to
submit to religious codes (including dress codes), their freedom of
movement is curtailed or their access to contraception is barred by their
family or community;
7.5. where religious education is
permitted in schools, ensure that this teaching is in conformity with
gender equality principles;
7.6. take a stand against any religious
doctrine which is antidemocratic or disrespectful of human rights,
especially women’s rights, and refuse to allow such doctrines to
influence political decision making;
7.7. actively promote respect of
women’s rights, equality and dignity in all areas of life when engaging
in dialogue with representatives of different religions, and work on
achieving full gender equality in society.
1. Assembly
debate on 4 October 2005 (26th Sitting) (see Doc.
10670, report of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and
Men, rapporteur: Mrs Zapfl-Helbling).
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