First
South/Southeast Asian Conference on Sexuality and Human Rights
in Muslim Societies
Twenty-five
NGO representatives and researchers from Muslim societies in South
and Southeast Asia have met in Jakarta to discuss pivotal human
rights issues related to sexual and bodily rights, sexual politics,
power and gender in Muslim societies.
The three-day
meeting, organised by Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR)-New
Ways and Women’s Health Foundation, brought together prominent
activists, scholars and NGO representatives from Bangladesh, Egypt,
India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines and
Turkey, who are working towards the realisation of sexual and
bodily rights in Muslim societies in the region and in the Middle
East.
The participants
called upon their states and the entire Muslim world, to take
all possible legal, social and political measures to eradicate
human rights violations related to sexual rights and bodily integrity.
The call was
made at a press conference on the last day of the meeting “Sexuality
and Human Rights in Muslim Societies in South – Southeast
Asia,” held between September 24-26, 2004 in Jakarta, capital
city of Indonesia.
“This
meeting, a first of its kind in the region, constitutes another
step in our determined efforts on the national and international
levels to combat all human rights violations related to sexual,
bodily and reproductive rights in Muslim societies” said
a statement issued during the press conference on the last day
of the meeting. Emphasising the fact that social justice and the
dignity of women and men are enshrined in the Koran, the statement
concluded that sexual oppression was a result of a combination
of political, social and economic inequalities and cannot be justified
by Islam.
The discussions
focused on the fact that conservative and religious right forces
were on the rise not only in the Muslim world but all around the
globe, and were trying to reinforce traditional mechanisms of
control over women’s sexuality and create new ones through
practices like sexual violence, forced marriages, honour crimes,
female genital mutilation, marital rape, unsafe abortion and discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender identity, which are falsely
related to Islam.
The themes
discussed during the meeting were,
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Sexuality,
Islam and politics
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Discourses on sexuality in Muslim societies
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Human rights violations related to sexuality, including sexual
harassment, female genital mutilation, honour crimes, sexual
coercion and violence, marital rape, sexual abuse, forced marriages,
virginity testing, barriers to safe abortion and sexual health,
as well as human rights violations against gays, lesbians and
transgender people.
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Women, gender, sexual orientation and sexual politics
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Current activism efforts to promote sexual, bodily and reproductive
rights as human rights in Muslim societies, challenges and strategies
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Sexual, bodily and reproductive rights at the United Nations
level
