Gender Issues and the Hijab/Burqa
French Appeals Court Restores Marriage in Virginity Case
A French appeals court in Douai has overturned a lower tribunal of Lille from April 1st 2008 that had annulled the marriage of two Muslims because the bride misrepresented her virginity. The marriage was annulled when the court held that the woman had lied over what was considered “an essential quality,” and therein the marriage…
Debate Surrounding “Honour” Killings
The term “honour” killing is under debate in many Western countries, including in Mississauga, Ontario, where the father and brother of teenager Aqsa Parvez will soon appear in court charged with her killing last December. The term itself, claims Craig Offman in this National Post article, is already on trial and remains a sensitive topic…
‘Offensive letter’ doctor suspended
The head of the Islamic Medical Association has been suspended from medical practice for 12 months after sending an “offensive and homophobic” letter to a magazine for GPs. Dr. Muhammad Siddiq wrote that homosexuals needed the “stick of law to put them on the right path” and were “the root cause of many sexually transmitted…
Dutch minister investigates Islamic marriages
Dutch Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin is considering whether measures against ‘Islamic marriage’ ought to be introduced. Islamic weddings in the Netherlands are generally unofficial, non-government sanctioned ceremonies based on Islamic law. Contracts in Islamic marriages are not legally recognized under Dutch law. As such, there will be no alimony if a couple divorces, and…
Sociologist Smaïn Laacher claims that “Neither Whores Nor Submissives” is a Victim of its Own Success
In her new book Femmes invisibles, leurs mots contre la violence (Invisible Women, Their Words Against Violence, Calmann-Lévy 2008) sociologist Smaïn Laacher (CNRS – EHESS) claims that the community association Neither Whores Nor SUbmissives (Ni Putes Ni Soumises) has had problems representing Muslim girls in the suburbs of France because it was so popular amongst…