Canadian Council of Muslim Women: February 2014: CCMW e-newsletter

Source: mass emailing. 

February e-newsletter 2014 An Open Letter to CCMW Members In February, The Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) carried out Train the Trainer session with their chapters to introduce a community toolkit on "Violence Against Women: Health and Justice for Canadian Muslim Women". The toolkit is to used by chapter members within their communities to tackle four different issues affecting Canadian Muslim women. One of these issues is Female Genital Cutting/ Mutilation (FGC/M), which was observed on February 6 as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. Organizations and individuals should use this day to create awareness and take actions within their communities against female genital mutilations happening within and outside of Canada. Another publication "Women in Niqab Speak" has been presented to communities and media in Ontario through chapter launches. Participants of the focus groups were able to attend these launches, which enabled attendees who were unfamiliar with niqab, to interact with these women. The proposed Quebec Charter of Values, if passed, will deny women who wear the niqab access to social well-being and justice. February 20, was proclaimed as World Day of Social Justice and CCMW continues to support gender equality, rights of indigenous people and migrants with this  study on Canadian women who wear the niqab.   CCMW National Women Who Inspire 2014 Thanks to your tremendous support, CCMW was able to provide scholarships to two Canadian Muslim women in 2013. Your generosity will help to build a bright future for women and their families. CCMW is now preparing for its 2014 annual fundraiser to raise money in order to provide scholarships for Canadian Muslim women. Do you know a Canadian Muslim woman in your community who should be recognized for her work? Click here to nominated her before May 29, 2014. If you are a student or have educational pursuits, please click here to apply for the Lila Fahlman Scholarship before June 15, 2014. Are you a creative individual looking for an opportunity to showcase your talents and skills at a high profile annual fundraiser? Click here to apply to perform before May 4th, 2014. CCMW would like to promote products and services from the community. Should you like to set up a table or place in advert in the event brochure, click here to apply before August 3, 2014. CCMW's response to Toronto Sun's article on "Women in Niqab Speak" Farzana Hassan, a reporter with the Toronto Sun, wrote an article on CCMW's latest study "Women in Niqab Speak". Alia Hogben, CCMW's ED, replied to the newspaper's Editor to respond to some of Farzana's observations. We would like to share that response with our members: "This is in response to the column by Farzana Hassan regarding the Canadian Council of Muslim Women's research on Muslim women who wear the niqab [face covering]. We embarked on this research because, as a women's organization, we wanted to provide these women the opportunity to speak for themselves. CCMW has a clear position that the niqab is not required by Islam, but that we will defend the right of a woman to express her religiosity as she desires." Read more here. Fact Sheets from "Violence Against Women: Health and Justice for Canadian Muslim Women" Now available for download are CCMW's fact sheet series on Violence against Women. An excellent primer for students, educators, health care practitioners, legal professionals, religious leaders and the wider community, these fact sheets provide readers with an easy and accessible introduction to violence against women,  femicide, forced marriage and female genital cutting/female genital mutilation Community Toolkits of "Violence Against Women: Health and Justice for Canadian Muslim Women" Developed by Pamela Cross with assistance from the CCMW National Board and our project's Advisory Committee Members, CCMW is pleased to share the second resource for our project, Violence Against Women: Health and Justice for Canadian Muslim Women, Violence against Women: A Toolkit for Community Engagement.  Available in English and French, this toolkit is intended to animate Canadian communities to have conversations about domestic violence, forced marriage, female genital cutting/female genital mutilation and femicide. More importantly, our resource is intended to assist communities in developing strategies for moving forward and crafting a community-based response to violence against women. If you are interested in hearing more about how you can host your own workshop and have access to our power point presentation please contact our Project Manager u.qureshi@ccmw.com Media Training Various CCMW board members, staff and chapter members attended a day long workshop with Eric Bergman, who is a professional communicator for nearly 30 years. For the past 25 years (and since 1987 from the Toronto area), he has been a self-employed communication consultant. CCMW participants were all certified through an online training program, while the workshop allowed attendees to practice their skills with Eric Bergman. CCMW would like to thank him for his time and continuous support for our work!                                                                                                             CCMW Montreal                               Nous sommes québécois Shaheen Junaid, CCMW National Board Member from Montreal, participated in a project titled "Nous sommes québécois". The video spoke to the diversity of Quebec and challenges the Quebec Charter of Values. Congratulations to everyone who participated and very special thanks to Sam Bilodeau who spent countless hours filming, editing and revising.  Watch the video here. World Hijab Day The Montreal chapter participated in World Hijab Day, which fell on February 1st, 2014. This is an event to help spread awareness about the religious head covering. The seminar involved discussions and presentations took place at Concordia University's School of Community and Public Affairs. Read more here. CCMW London London Media Launch The "Women in Niqab Speak" report was released in London on February 12th 2014 at Brescia University College. Alia Hogben presented the report and answered questions from the media. You can read the various articles and videos on the event here: - The Niqab: To Wear or not to Wear - CTV London: Muslim Study CCMW Toronto Wen-Do Workshop The Toronto chapter hosted a Wen-Do event for their members on Sunday, February 23rd, from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm. It was a truly empowering workshop, which taught participants how to defend themselves. In addition, members learnt how to keep themselves safe in various sceanrios. Toronto Media Launch The Toronto media launch for the Niqab project took place on Friday, February 28, from 2 to 4pm, in the Executive Dining Room, Seymour Schulich Building, Keele campus. The event was hosted by the York Centre for Asian Research, Centre for Feminist Research and the Canadian Council of Muslim Women - Toronto chapter. Alia Hogben, Executive Director of CCMW, provided the background of the research and Lynda Clarke discussed the findings with Hulya Arik, a PhD candidate in York's Department of Geography, and Roshan A. Jahangeer, a PhD candidate in York's Department of Political Science. A Q&A session with the audience followed the discussion. Read more here. CCMW Waterloo/ Wellington   Waterloo/ Wellington Media Launch Women in Niqab Speak: A study of the niqab in Canada, was presented on Sunday, February 16th, from 2pm to 3:30 pm at the Muslim Society of Guelph's mosque on Water Street to a crowd of around 30 people, six of whom were wearing the niqab. Alia Hogben, the Executive Director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, led the presentation. Read more here. CCMW Niagara   Workshop The Niagara chapter carried out a workshop, which addressed hate and misconceptions about Muslim women on March 1 2014. Read more. CCMW Edmonton   VAW Chapter Train the Trainer Sessions CCMW chapters' women from Vancouver, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg as well as Edmonton-based social service providers attended the Edmonton Train the Trainer Session at the Executive Royal Inn West, Edmonton on February 8th 2014. CCMW Ottawa   VAW Chapter Train the Trainer Sessions Social Service Providers as well as members from CCMW Ottawa and Montreal attended a training session at the Immigrant Women's Services of Ottawa on February 25th Upcoming Events Blanketed By Blame (Daniels Centre of Learning), Toronto March 5, 1:00pm - 3:00pm Ottawa Media Launch for "Women in Niqab Speak" (Room 129, Simard Hall, University of Ottawa), Ottawa March 6, 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm Toronto Chapter March Monthly Meeting (2191 Yonge Street) March 23, 11:30am to 1:00pm Civically Engaged Diversity Workshop (Daniels Centre of Learning), Toronto March 31, 10:00am to 12:00pm Move for Hope - Toronto Chapter (Canadian Women Foundation), Toronto April 12 Waterloo/ Wellington Chapter: High Tea (Punslinch Community Centre) May 11 SAVE THE DATE: Women Who Inspire Awards and Brunch Fundraiser, Toronto September 28 About CCMW The Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) is a national not-for-profit organization whose overarching mission is to ensure the equality, equity and empowerment of Muslim women.  Blog Author: Alia Hogben The Parti Quebecois government has decided to follow the lead of Europe and especially France, in banning religious symbols in the public arena. It has put forward a Quebec Charter of Values which proposes that public services will not be provided to anyone wearing the yarmulke, the hijab, the niqab or a turban. As well, if anyone wants employment with the public sector, they too must not wear any visible symbols. The battle is on, but what is not being discussed openly by the government is that the rationale is racist and discriminatory, no matter how they phrase it. Read more. Community - Three Recent Instances of Scholarly Engagement in Canadian Muslim Communities Professor Clarke reports on opportunities and challenges encountered in writing an accessible manual on Islamic law (in anticipation of religious arbitration in Ontario); creating  a Muslim Marriage Contract kit; and studying women in Canada wearing niqab.  The talk is intended to stimulate discussion of academic activism and relations between the academy and community - Making Waves (Musawah) Based on case studies, the film 'Making Waves: Expression of Gender Equality in the Sacred Texts and Islamic Tradition' explores women and men as scholars and activists promoting interpretations of the Qur'an and Hadiths that empower women and promote justice, equality, and dignity. - Report: Child, Early and Forced Marriage: A Multi-Country Study (Women Living Under Muslim Laws) This was a submission, made on December 15 2013, to the UN Office of the High Commission on Human Rights (OCHCR). You can download the report here. - Challenges for Canadian Muslim Women: The Quebec Charter of Values (Carleton University) Alia Hogen, Executive Director of the Canadian Council for Muslim Women will be presenting her thoughts at the 2013-2014 Florence Bird Lecture. - Article: Tunisia enshrines Gender Equality in New Constitution (WUNRN) Tunisia's constitutional assembly voted to enshrine equality between men and women in its draft constitution, safeguarding the country's status as having the Arab world's most progressive laws on women's right. The text enshrining gender equality was approved by 159 lawmakers out of the 169 who voted. Women's rights activists in Tunisia hailed the provisional approval of article 20, which states that "all male and female citizens have the same rights and duties. They are equal before the law without discrimination". Read more. - Changing Laws and Unchanging Statistic: Rape and Rape Law Change in India with Reflections from Canada (OISE/ UT) India has just seen a massive upsurge of public protest around the gruesome rape of a young woman in December 2012. In reference to these events in India, Poonam Kathuria will introduce a transnational dialogue and discuss challenges of feminist organizing against violence against women and the real impact on women's lives of legal and policy changes achieved in India and Canada. Sahar Zaidi, Project Coordinator from the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, will serve on the panel. - Inspirit Foundation wants you! We are one of the 14 organizations collaborating on the 4Rs Initiative – a national youth-led awareness campaign aimed at reshaping the dialogue among Canada's Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in order to strengthen the cultural, economic and social fabric of our country. We are looking for young leaders in Edmonton to participate in the 4Rs conference on March 29-30. They will also be able to participate in the national TRC conference on March 27-30. The young leader should be: - between the ages of 18-30 - live in Edmonton - actively involved in community initiatives - interested in learning more about reconciliation and turning it into action - able to potentially engage their communities (including faith communities) in the 4Rs awareness campaign If this applies to you or someone you know, contact Lin Abdul Rahman at lrahman@inspiritfoundation.org or call 416-6443600. - My Somalia: Inspiring Change (Somali Women's Circle Network) Serving our Members If you have any questions, please contact us at info@ccmw.com Notice In an email dated February 27 2014 titled "Condolences on the demise of Ayshi Shouser Hassan", the dates were incorrect. The correct dates are April 25, 1922 - Feb 12, 2014.                                                                                                        Copyright © 2014 Canadian Council of Muslim Women All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you are on our Listserv Canadian Council of Muslim Women PO Box 194 Gananoque, On K7G2T7 Canada