Interfaith Perspectives on Religious Fundamentalism and Women’s Rights, AWID

WLP will present an interfaith dialogue addressing strategies for reform in light of fundamentalist influence on women’s political and economic participation at the AWID Form, Istanbul, Turkey. 

While the Western world often focuses on religious extremism and gender discrimination in Muslim societies, fundamentalist practices and interpretations of religious texts cut across various faith traditions, with women often prime targets for political, social, and economic discrimination.  In a global climate where rapid changes in communication technologies, increased emphasis on material values, and the loss of social ties have led people to seek new spiritual values, fundamentalists—who have grown both frustrated and emboldened by movements for reform and modernity—have posed a political, rather than spiritual alternative as they struggle to maintain the social and legal controls that they claim to be rooted in religious tradition.  

The impact of fundamentalist religious interpretations and controls, and their specific negative impact on women, permeates both public and private spaces, and is reflected not only in legal and political spheres, but also in the socialized gender roles accepted by women and men in their families, workplaces, and communities—often to the particular detriment of women’s economic participation which, in turn, further disempowers them by diminishing their physical and psychological security.

This session will present an interfaith dialogue on how extremist religious interpretations and conservative traditions are exploited by those who use religion for political purposes, and pinpoint strategies women are using to advance religious and democratic reforms in light of these challenges. Speakers from different faith backgrounds will first address the alarming and emerging trends of religious and cultural fundamentalism and their dehumanizing impact on women’s human rights in developing countries, particularly in areas where culture and religion enjoy significant weight in determining legal rights and social norms. 

Discussants will then share the analyses and tools that have emerged from progressive voices within their respective traditions as strategic models for countering fundamentalist perspectives, including the reinterpretation of holy texts, raising the visibility of often unsung heroines within religious narratives, highlighting humanistic perspectives and the underlying theme of justice inherent in all religions, and mobilizing progressive religious leaders to speak out on behalf of women’s rights. 

To conclude the session we will invite the audience to join in an open forum, allowing them to share their own perspectives of women’s experiences and realities stemming from their political identities as spiritual and cultural beings, and to share the strategies that have been most effective for promoting progressive viewpoints and gender equality within their respective faith traditions.

Speaker and audience contributions will provide key insights into how fundamentalists’ perspectives vilify those who prioritize women’s agency, autonomy, and contributions to economic development, and will celebrate both the common and diverse experiences of women seeking to reshape regressive religious and cultural norms.  We will identify global best practices that can be adapted at national and regional levels to further address women’s rights and fundamentalists’ practices. 

At the end of the session, information derived from discussion will be developed into “Graffiti” from participants, highlighting different types of gender violence fueled by fundamentalism, as well as infographics to be included in a shared online resource.

Presentation includes:

Letty Cottin Pogrebin is a founding editor of Ms. magazine and co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus.  In addition to her numerous publications on women’s rights, she serves on women's program advisory boards at Harvard Divinity School and Brandeis University.