![\"\"](\"https:\/\/healthrights.mk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Religion-and-Violence-Against-Women-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Reem Alsalem, United Nations\u00a0special rapporteur on violence against women, its causes, and its consequences. Photo by: Manuel El\u00edas \/ UN Photo<\/p>\n
By\u00a0<\/em>Vince Chadwick<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>\/\/\u00a0<\/em>06 June 2022<\/em><\/p>\n A UN expert’s take on religion and violence against women | Devex<\/a><\/p>\n Whether holding the\u00a0World Health Organization<\/a>\u00a0to account\u00a0for allegations of\u00a0sexual exploitation<\/a>\u00a0in the Democratic Republic of Congo or\u00a0calling for protection<\/a>\u00a0for women and girls in Afghanistan, Reem Alsalem has had an eventful start to her time as the\u00a0United Nations<\/a>\u00a0special rapporteur on violence against women, its causes, and its consequences.<\/p>\n Appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council for a\u00a0three-year term<\/a>\u00a0starting in August 2021, Alsalem made a\u00a0detailed argument<\/a>\u00a0on the need for a gender-sensitive interpretation of Shariah, or Islamic law, within days of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan that same month.<\/p>\n Now, as the Taliban\u00a0prevent<\/a>\u00a0teenage girls from attending school and order women to cover their faces in public, Devex asked Alsalem \u2014 a consultant and former international civil servant who\u2019s worked with the\u00a0UN Refugee Agency<\/a>\u00a0in 13 countries \u2014 how religion intersects with her role.<\/p>\n This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n How do you think about religion in the context of your role?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We know that religious leaders and faith-based institutions are very relevant and powerful nonstate actors who also have a lot of influence over their constituencies. So in that sense I find it important to engage faith-based leaders and religious and traditional leaders.<\/p>\n Of course, relativism in the name of religion can be a serious obstacle to human rights. But a lot of the modern human rights standards were not the first ones to come up with an understanding of dignity and freedoms. Many of these also have their roots in faiths and traditions that predate modernity.<\/p>\n Every belief and religion is, of course, not monolithic. Within it, there are also different interpretations, schools of thoughts, or applications. Some of them are supportive or uphold human rights; others don’t.<\/p>\n The issue is how to find the tendencies or the streams that are supportive of the realization of human rights and to recognize them, but also to engage with faith and the faithful in a dialogue around these issues.<\/p>\n International law is clear that states should promote and protect human rights irrespective of their internal laws and systems. Interestingly though, the \u2026 [Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action] acknowledges that the particularities as well as the historical religious and cultural backgrounds of states should be taken into consideration while they do that. We need to further unpack how to do both of these things.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your response to the Taliban\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>saying recently<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that women and girls are only allowed outside if they’re fully covered and that their male guardians will be\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>punished<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0if that’s not the case?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Even before the August 2021 change in the regime, there were long-standing concerns when it comes to violence against women and girls.<\/p>\n