A new national Muslim women’s organisation has been launched to dispel media stereotypes about “oppressed Muslim women” and reclaim women’s voices from secular narratives.
AVOW – Advancing Voices Of Women against Islamophobia – is a community funded organisation founded by Farah Anwar-Bawany, Shenaz Bunglawala, Dr Siema Iqbal, Heena Khaled and Amanda Morris.
At launch events this month in London and Manchester, AVOW said that the media had generated an image of Muslim women that is problematic. This image portrays Muslim women as oppressed, lacking the capacity to act for themselves, and of being in thrall to a “misogynistic religion.”
The organisation says that the public sphere is an acute concern for Muslim women because of the number of hate crimes committed against women who are visibly Muslim on trains, in streets, in shopping malls, high streets, at school gates and on buses.
AVOW says it aims to:
– Advance the inclusion of Muslim women in gender equality struggles but on their own terms.
– Reclaim women’s agency from secular narratives.
– Challenge all forms of Islamophobia faced by women by ensuring women are portrayed in non-binary ways.
Dr Siema Iqbal said: “For me it is a time to be a Muslim woman without fear, compromise or discrimination.”
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Amanda Morris said: “There are too many voices speaking in behalf of Muslim women, but very few of those voices belong to Muslim women. This needs to change. AVOW wants to help push for that change.”
Farah Anwar-Bawany said: “I joined AVOW because now, more than ever, the voices of Muslim women need to be heard and listened to”
And Heena Khalid said: “AVOW comes at an imperative time where Muslim women are the most disadvantaged as a result of Islamophobia and for me as a Muslim woman there’s nowhere I’d rather be than here to challenge and end that.”
