One third of British mosques have no space for women

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Around one third of British mosques have no space for women to pray and now a network of women has come together to challenge the status quo and campaign for change.

Religion Media Center report said the British women have produced a report “My British Mosque” detailing the extent of the problem and outlining discrimination against women, which they hope will be a catalyst for action to change.

The report found that 59 per cent of survey respondents had female friends or family members unfairly or negatively treated in a mosque.  96 per cent did not believe there was any basis in Islamic law to stop women from attending the mosque to pray or to be excluded from management boards.

The group is led by  the “Open My Mosque” campaign co-founded by Julie Siddiqi MBE, who said the problem had been known about for years but more needed to be done to effect change.

High-powered Muslim women were invited to the launch in parliament, including Baroness Sayeeda Warsi who advised a compelling argument was required and an “all faiths approach” to equality in places of worship.