ISSUES
: Domestic Violence
Chapter 2: Tackling domestic abuse
33
British Muslim women’s helpline: their
voices won’t go unheard again
Today [14 January 2015] sees the launch of the first national helpline for Muslim women
and girls, tackling problems such as sexual abuse, forced marriage and divorce – still taboo
subjects in their communities. Alia Waheed speaks to the people behind it.
By Alia Waheed
W
hen the Muslim Women’s
Network (MWNUK) launched
a report, last year, on sexual
exploitation in the Asian community,
it could only have dreamed that
something like this would come to
pass.
That report was called
UnheardVoices
– The Sexual Exploitation of AsianGirls
and Young Women
. Its publication
coincided with the revelations around
child sexual exploitation by Asian
gangs in Rotherham and challenged
the view that the issue was purely
one of race and that somehow, Asian
girls were left untouched by abusers
because of loyalties to their own
culture.
MWNUK found that a worrying
number of women and girls were
slipping through the net, as agencies
– such as social services and the
police – grappled with the difficulties
reaching out to victims because of
cultural sensitivities – those same
points of faith, which are exploited by
their abusers to ensure their victims’
silence.
It confirmed what many already knew
– that many Muslim girls and women
are trapped in a cycle of abuse and
violence because of a lack of services.
What’s more, it recommended a
helpline be set up as an outlet for
them to confide their problems and
seek advice.
And today, as a result of the charity’s
awareness-raising activities, the first
national helpline for Muslim women
is being launched by Minister for
Women and Equalities, Jo Swinson.
The helpline will initially be run part
time by trained, bilingual staff and
will be accompanied by a website
containing information on the issues
which they are most commonly
asked about: sexual abuse, domestic
violence and divorce.
Its aim? To make sure the voices of
Muslim girls and women never go
unheard again.
Sadly, it’s impossible to know just how
many are suffering right now. Figures
for violence against women in the
Muslim community remain elusive.
Last year, the Home Office Forced
Marriage Unit was informed of 1,302
cases. Of these, 15 per cent of victims
were under 15, though figures peaked
in the 16 to 17 age group, coinciding
with the age that young women finish
school. While the Iranian and Kurdish
Women’s Rights Organisation found,
under the Freedom of Information
Act, that more than 2,800 incidents
of ‘honour’-based violence were
reported to police across the UK in
2010.
Within four months of its report last
year, MWNUK had received 35 case
studies from different agencies –
a surprising number from what is
traditionally such a closed community
and especially considering the
intimidation victims often face from
their abusers, in the name of ‘family
honour’. It suggests that the real
number is much higher.
Among them was a young woman,
raped by 30 men, including a father
and his schoolboy son, during a
horrific six-hour attack. The common
factor in each case? That cultural and
religious issues were perpetuating the
abuse and preventing victims from
accessing help.
The desperate need for a helpline was
cemented by the growing number of
calls MWNUK staff were receiving
from desperate women.
“We are predominantly a campaigning
organisation but found we were
getting many helpline-type enquiries,”
said Shaista Gohir MBE, Chair of
MWNUK.
“These calls confirmed that there’s
definitely a gap in services for Muslim
women, which are faith and culturally
sensitive, and non-judgemental. While
there are services for specific issues
such as domestic violence, there
hasn’t been a general helpline.”
The charity also found many women
were struggling to reconcile their
faith with their problems. They simply
couldn’t findan alternativeperspective
to those patriarchal interpretations
– which so often dominate religious
discourse – that had been used
against them.
“More women are asking about the
religious implications of issues like
abortion,” explains Shaista “Often
they feel that Islam cannot be as harsh
as they’ve been led to believe. We can
understand that predicament.
“We don’t pretend to be religious
scholars, or force our beliefs upon
them. We give them a range of
religious perspectives and show them
that their faith doesmake allowances.”
MWNUK began as an advisory
group to the Government on issues
relating to Muslim women and public
policy in 2003, before becoming an
independent organisation four years
later.
The
Birmingham-based
charity
now consists of a network of nearly
700 individuals and organisations,
and has become one of the leading
campaigning voices for Muslim
women in the UK.
The power of that collective voice led
to 19-year-old Shabana* contacting
the charity after the attempted rape of
her sister, then 11, by their uncle.
“Our dad left when we were small
and mum had health problems so her
family helped a lot,” she explains. “But
as we got older, we grew aware of how
controlling my uncle was and how my
