Fwd: Sharia councils and parallel legal systems are abusive and discriminatory against women

Hello dear friend

I wanted to write and give you an update of the work of One Law for All. 

Our new Spokesperson

I'm really pleased to announce that Gina Khan, a long-time women's rights campaigner, has become a Spokesperson for the organisation. You can hear Gina's experience with Sharia courts on BBC Radio 4 along with other media coverage on on our concerns: http://onelawforall.org.uk/is-sharia-discriminatory-against-women/. 

Boycott of Theresa May Inquiry into Sharia Councils

Following an open letter to the then Home Secretary Theresa May signed by an unprecedented number of women's rights groups and campaigners, we have called for a boycott of the inquiry with others because of serious concerns, including that the inquiry is set up as a theological investigation rather than one centred on human rights. The letter calling for a boycott can be seen here: http://onelawforall.org.uk/boycott-the-sharia-law-inquiry/.  

Home Affairs Committee on Sharia Councils

We have, however, submitted evidence to the Home Affairs Committee on Sharia Councils and will be giving oral evidence. You can see our submission and that of some of our other partners here: 

One Law for All: http://tinyurl.com/hbfqjul

IKWRO: http://tinyurl.com/hwzlr8g

Southall Black Sisters: http://tinyurl.com/jsdcyke

British Muslims for Secular Democracy: http://tinyurl.com/ho8zjz3

Yasmin Rehman: http://tinyurl.com/hhgomsf

Testimonies

We continue to collect shocking testimonies from women whose rights have been violated by Sharia courts: http://onelawforall.org.uk/sharia-testimonials/. If you have personal experience with these courts, please contact us.

Public Meetings

In order to continue raising awareness on the detrimental effect of parallel legal systems, One Law for All will be speaking at public meetings in London and Manchester organised by Southall Black Sisters as well as a public meeting at the Houses of Parliament. To find out more about these events and others, see here: http://onelawforall.org.uk/category/events/.

Crowdfunding

Thanks to all of those who supported the crowdfunding campaign to get Elham Manea's book on Sharia Law and Women into the hands of MPs:  http://tinyurl.com/hq2j2x9. We raised enough to get 127 books into the hands of key MPs and Ministers. We will write to donors with more details soon.

Please continue supporting us

Please support our work by donating to our organisation: http://onelawforall.org.uk/donate/. No amount is too small and every little helps. A special thanks to those who donate on a regular basis. We can't tell you what a difference it makes.

In addition to donating, please buy tickets to the 22-23 July 2017 International Conference on Freedom of Conscience and Expression. If you can't come, please try and donate towards conference costs. That is one important way to help us. It will be a historic conference - one that you can join for as little as £85 a day (including refreshments, lunch, cocktails, and a brilliant line up of speakers and acts). Find out more about the conference here: http://www.secularconference.com/agenda-2017/.

Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you at some of the public events and the 2017 conference.

Thanks again and warmest wishes

Maryam Namazie

Spokesperson

One Law for All

BM Box 2387, London WC1N 3XX, UK

tel: +44 (0) 7719166731

email: onelawforall@gmail.com

web: http://www.onelawforall.org.uk/