Some of the most fearless individuals from many nationalities and backgrounds have come together to put the very concept of ‘Sharia’on trial at the United Nations.
On 8th March, otherwise known as International Women's Day, champions for women’s human rights came together to lodge a formal complaint to the United Nations. The complaint (Ref: WHRC 5964) is titled, ‘Thematic complaint to the Human Rights Council, United Nations on the worldwide and consistent patterns of gross, reliably attested, and continuing violations of women's human rights caused by sharia’.
This must be one of the most important developments internationally in recent decades. The complaint covers issues such as violence against women, the role of Sharia and the role of Islamic culture. These warriors fighting for the rights of women must be commended. In the world we live in, we have witnessed how the voice of women and those who fight for their rights are so often stifled. Those who stifle this voice are leaders of many of the world’s leading institutions. The United Nations is one such organisation that provides rhetoric and platitudes on human rights and women’s rightswith great ease, but in practice andin my opinion, it is probably one of the worst culprit that remains silent whilst women are abused mentally, physically, and emotionally by some cultural, religious, andideological practices.
I asked some of the signatories for their reasons for supporting the complaint and their responses bring light and hope to women everywhere.
Leslie S. Lebl- Former Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. Author of Hidden Struggle: The Challenge of Sharia in the West (June 2023) said, ‘I doubt that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will respond, as called for in the Complaint; after all, many of its most prominent members are currently promoting the worldwide adoption of Sharia. However, one must start somewhere, and the Complaint is an excellent place to do so. It highlights the discrepancy between what the "international community" says in public and what actually happens. Its arguments stand on very firm ground and no one should under-estimate the power of simply saying the truth in public’.
Another signatory, Soraya M. Deen the Founder of Muslim Women Speakers and co-chair of Women’s Working Group (International Religious Freedom Roundtable DC) said, ‘I strongly believe that Sharia laws(that are manmade) disfavours women. Women's bodies have always been controlled and valorised by most religions. Patriarchy is a disease where men assume moral superiority in religious matters. In the Muslim world it is mainstream.And Religious Freedom issues have always trumped gender discrimination.And I strongly believe it is high time that we challenge, question and change those laws’.
Every signatory has a story to tell, a view to share, an inner strength to stand up for women, the power and the resilience to challenge tyranny and be the voice for those without a voice. Millions of Muslim women right across the world are silently praying that the United Nations will find a spine to investigate this complaint properly and expeditiously.
The truth however if often very different. The United Nations are known for appeasing to Islamists. Even worse, leading nations sitting at the top table often turn a blind eye. So the challenge I have today for every member state is, will you demand formally that the UN investigates this well-articulated complaint immediately and with full transparency?I have read the complaint and let me assure you all, if an independent jury sat on the evidence presented, they would find Sharia guilty as charged. It is incompatible with the rights of women – full stop.
Mathew Giagnoriofrom Ontario, Canada and Founder of A Further Inquiry put it nicely: ‘I proudly add my name to the list of signatories because, unlike previous UN Human Rights Complaints that address a single case, this complaint is the first to present a detailed case study to address the worldwide harmful effects of Sharia on Muslim and non-Muslim women’ adding, ‘There is a fundamental contradiction between Human Rights which includes Women's Rights as understood by the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, liberal secular democratic countries, and how it is understood by Sharia’.
Dr Lakshmi Bandlamudi, Professor at LaGuardia Community College and of City University of New York made an important observation stating, ‘I was horrified and appalled by UN’s silence even after learning about the horrific nature of barbaric rape, abductions, and sexual assault on Israeli women on October 7. Since I felt so strongly about it, I decided to be a signatory to this petition’.
The sentiments expressed by Leslie S. Lebl, Soraya M. Deen, Mathew Giagnorio and Dr Lakshmi Bandlamudi are shared by millions of people right across the globe. They have thrown the gauntlet down to the United Nations, it’s time to eradicate the abuse and violation of women by those imposing Sharia.
The motto forthis campaign for truth and justice is, ‘# I Stand with Her’. So today I decare that, ‘I Stand with Her’. The question I pose to you all, with whom do you stand? The victims of Sharia? Or with the perpetrators?
