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Muslim Group Comes Under Fire for Gender Segregation at University


Inside the British university where Muslims were segregated by gender. A photograph was taken earlier this year at a Leicester University seminar
The same Islamic society came under fire for other episodes of segregation.

With women obliged to sit yards behind chairs reserved exclusively for men, the photograph  shows the shocking reality of gender segregation at a British university.

It was taken earlier this year at a training course at Leicester University organised by its Islamic Society. The course was entitled Call Of Duty and it featured a guest speaker from a hardline Islamic group.

Rupert Sutton of campaign group Student Rights, which monitors campus extremism, said: ‘The obvious discrimination in this picture is what segregated seating can mean in practice – women pushed to the back of the hall, while men are given the best seats to see and hear the speaker.
Women and men sit separately at a day-long seminar at Leicester University earlier this year – which was about how to ‘talk to non Muslims about Islam convincingly and in a structured way’

The disturbing image emerged at the end of a week in which Universities UK – the vice-chancellors’ association – backed down from guidelines it had previously given that apparently allowed campus Islamic societies to impose segregated seating at meetings.

The guidelines have been withdrawn while Universities UK consults with the Equality and Human Rights Commission about the appropriate position. It is expected to be forced to back down permanently.

A recent report by Student Rights found that over a quarter of visits by Islamic speakers to British universities resulted in segregated meetings. Last week the controversy over gender segregation prompted the Prime Minister to intervene.

Mr Cameron said: ‘I’m absolutely clear that there should not be segregated audiences for visiting speakers to universities in Britain. That is not the right approach, the guidance should say that universities should not allow this.’

The Leicester University event in February was billed as a ‘Dawah Training Course’. Dawah is the word Muslims use to mean ‘preaching’ or ‘invitation to Islam’.

Source: dailymail.co.uk



3 Responses

  1. Why would YWN quote a left wing newspaper? The issue is whether any sort of separate seating should be banned (as in should tax exempt status be denied to synagogues with gender segregation and single-sex schools). Do the editors even read the stuff they post?

    There are in fact articles in respectable British newspapers saying in fact that there should be respect for different cultural and religious groups, and suggesting the people raising the issue are bigots. This you should be quoting.

  2. A “hard line Islamic group” at a British university is already a problem. It’s just another nail in the coffin for London-istan…

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