Past Events

26jun6:00 pm8:00 pmBirmingham Support Group

21junAll DayLGBT Humanist Conference

18jun6:00 pm8:00 pm#RefugeeToo Open Mic meet Up

17jun12:00 pm2:00 pmProtest at Brunei Embassy to condemn stoning for homosexuality and adultery

15jun2:00 pm5:00 pmCEMB Social - Meet & Eat

04jun6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

01jun1:00 pm6:00 pmRamadan Fast-Defying Picnic

30may6:00 pm8:00 pmBirmingham Support Group

28may6:00 pm8:00 pmMeet-Up with Lawyer Ana Gonzalez on apostasy and asylum

19may2:00 pm5:00 pmCEMB Social - Meet & Eat

17may12:00 pm2:00 pmProtest at Department for Education: Child Fasting is Child Abuse

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Event Details

In the past years, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain has held fast-defying protests at embassies in solidarity with those who are persecuted for eating and drinking during Ramadan.

This year, CEMB’s fast-defying action included a protest at the Department for Education on 17th May at 12pm to highlight the Department’s inaction with regards to child fasting in schools. Child fasting should be banned as it is harmful to children.

If a child is sent to school without breakfast and not allowed to eat lunch or drink water whilst going about their normal school day for an entire month, this would rightly trigger safeguarding procedures and be considered a form of neglect. However, when it comes to BME children of religious parents, the Department for Education readily turns a blind eye.

Being forced to not eat or drink water for an entire month for 12+ hours a day is clearly harmful to children and child development. It causes sickness, dizziness, migraines, sunstrokes, lack of focus and tiredness as a result of dehydration or lack of sustenance. It also can lead to depression, anxiety, mood swings, irritability, anger, apathy, reduced alertness, diminished comprehension… Children have been known to faint as have teachers who are fasting.

Adults, of course, can fast if they choose. It’s important to remember that there is a corresponding right NOT to fast if one chooses not to. Nonetheless, when it comes to children, imposing fasting rules is child abuse and neglect.

The Department for Education has a duty of care for school children and must act immediately to put child welfare above religious demands of the child’s parents.

#ChildFastingChildAbuse

DETAILS OF THE EVENTS FOR RAMADAN

17 May, 12pm

Fast defying protest outside Department for Education, 20 Great Smith St, Westminster, London, SW1P 3BT

#ChildFastingChildAbuse

Time

(Friday) 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

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07may6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

30apr7:00 pm8:30 pmFinding Acceptance: LGBT and Apostasy

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Event Details

Belief and identity are fundamental human rights. Unfortunately, this is not afforded to everyone, and for some people leaving their faith can be a complicated, challenging, and even dangerous process. There are religious communities that consider apostasy a source of shame and dishonour and as a result, apostates often experience emotional and sometimes physical abuse.

Apostates who happen to be LGBT almost always find the path to acceptance even more challenging. In this discussion panel event, survivors who have escaped these abuses and are now living free from harm will talk of their experiences. Experts who work with victims will also raise awareness of these highly sensitive issues.

To register for this event please click here.

Panellists from five organisations include:

Jimmy Bangash, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain.
Jimmy was raised in a traditional Pashtun family in London. As a gay man, he struggled with the homophobia and ardent misogyny within his community.

Matt Mahmood-Ogston, Founder of Naz and Matt Foundation.
Following the tragic loss of Matt’s fiancé, Naz, who took his own life two days after his deeply religious family confronted him about his sexuality, Matt was moved to help others. He set up the foundation to support LGBT individuals, their friends and family to work towards resolving challenges linked to sexuality or gender identity, particularly where religion is heavily influencing.

Ste Richardsson, XJW Friends
Ste comes from a long line of prominent elders, his great grandfather was one of the first Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Caribbean. After leaving the religion in 2007 and coming out as gay, Ste was disowned by his family and made homeless. Today, he leads the Faith to Faithless apostate meet-ups and museum tours and is a French and Japanese translator.

Edward Prout, Humanists UK.
Teddy is an ex-evangelical Christian. ‘Born again’ at 16 years old he struggled with the theological condemnation of being gay while identifying as a gay Christian. He was repeatedly offered gay conversion therapy throughout his time in the church. He left the religion in his mid-30s.

Aliyah Saleem, Faith to Faithless
Aliyah was born into a Sunni family and was educated at an Islamic girls’ private boarding school in Nottingham before studying Islamic theology in Pakistan. She is an advocate for secular education and in 2015 co-founded Faith to Faithless to raise awareness of apostasy. In 2018 she published her first book, ‘Leaving Faith Behind’.

Following the discussion, there will be an opportunity for Q&A with the panel. We hope you’ll join us for what promises to be an informative and thought-provoking event.

Time

(Tuesday) 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

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25apr6:00 pm8:00 pmBirmingham Support Group

23apr6:30 pm8:00 pmMeet-Up with Maryam Namazie on Open Borders

20apr2:00 pm5:00 pmCEMB Social - Movie & Munchies

06apr2:15 pm6:00 pmFilm Screening and Panel on Subversion and Dissent, Rich Mix

02apr6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

29marAll Day31Days of Atheism, Warsaw, Poland

28mar6:00 pm8:00 pmBirmingham Support Group - Group cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances

26mar6:00 pm8:00 pmLeaving Faith Behind - Meet up with Contributors Jimmy & Aliyah

23mar6:30 pm9:00 pmEx-Muslim Women Speak Out on International Atheist Day

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Event Details

23 March 2019, 18:00-23:00 hours to celebrate the first ever International Atheist Day
Holborn, Central London

Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain will celebrate the first ever International Atheist Day with a panel discussion of ex-Muslim women speaking out, namely Somali Poet Halima Salat, Moroccan Activist Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, CEMB Spokespersons Maryam Namazie and Sadia Hameed, Ex-Muslim YouTuber Mimzy Vidz and Faithless Hijabi Founder Zara Kay. Singer/Songwriter Shelley Segal will perform her new songs and there will be an art exhibition by Samint. CEMB’s 2019 awards and Coming Out Ceremonies will follow. Nahla Mahmoud will MC the event.

Tickets for the event at a spectacular venue in central London are only £10 waged and £5 unwaged and includes access to the full event with drinks and appetisers.

SCHEDULE

18:00 Registration with drinks and appetisers and Artwork by Samint
19:00 Opening
19:20 Panel Discussion on Ex-Muslim Women Coming Out
20:30 Comedy
20:40 Poetry
20:50 Coming out Certificates
21:00 CEMB 2019 Awards Ceremony
21:30 Shelley Segal: Premiere of Our Way to Freedom, a new CEMB Anthem for ex-Muslims and atheists
21:45 Drinks and Music
23:00 End of Event

SPEAKER BIOS

Halima Salat is an ex-Muslim Kenyan Somali. She defines herself as a free thinker, a rebel and an atheist. She was born Muslim but no longer believes in Islam. She was a closet non-believer for a while until when she came to live in the Netherlands 3 years ago. Halima just recently had her “coming out” declaration in Amsterdam. She has many problems with Islam but the core problem is that she truly believes Islam is against a woman’s individual right to steer her own path. Halima is also a spoken word artist and reads her poetry in the few English spoken word scenes in Amsterdam.

Ibtissame Betty Lachgar is a clinical psychologist specialised in criminology and victimology, particularly violence against women and sexual violence. She is co-founder and Leader of MALI (Alternative Movement for Individual Liberties), which is universalist, feminist and secularist. The civil disobedience movement fights for individual liberties, against discrimination and breaks taboos. Their first action in 2009 was a picnic during the day in Ramadan to protest against the law which condemns those “known as Muslim” who do not fast to 6 months in prison. In 2012, she invited the NGO Women on Waves from the Netherlands (Abortion Boat) to fight for the right to abortion and for the decriminalisation of abortion. She also organised a Kiss-in in 2013 and coloured Rabat’s fountains in red in 2017 in the fight against violence against women. She initiated the first LGBT movement in Morocco in 2012, the IDAHOT. Her work is censored by the majority of organisations in Morocco, even progressive and feminist ones. Ibtissame has been the victim of sexual assault by the police whilst in custody for her protests in Sept 2016. There is a trial in progress against her and she has faced numerous threats as a result of her work.

Maryam Namazie is Co-Spokesperson for One Law for All, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Fitnah. She hosts a weekly television programme called Bread and Roses. She is on the International Advisory Board of the Raif Badawi Foundation for Freedom; National Secular Society Honorary Associate; a Patron of London Black Atheists and Pink Triangle Trust; International Advisory Board Member of Feminist Dissent and a columnist for The Freethinker. The Islamic regime of Iran’s media outlets has called Namazie immoral and corrupt and did an ‘exposé’ on her entitled “Meet this anti-religion woman.” Maryam was a character in DV8 Physical Theatre’s Can We Talk About This?, which deals with freedom of speech, censorship and Islam. She was awarded the 2017 Henry H. Zumach Freedom From Religious Fundamentalism award; 2016 International Secularism (Laicite) Prize from the Comité Laïcité République and was honoured by the National Secular Society for her campaigning work defending free speech at universities (2016) despite attempts at barring her by Student Unions or Islamic Society efforts to intimidate her and cancel her talks. She was also awarded Atheist of the Year by Kazimierz Lyszczynski (2014); Journalist of the Year at the Dods Women in Public Life Awards (2013); selected one of the top 45 women of the year by Elle magazine Quebec (2007); one of 2006′s most intriguing people by DNA, awarded the National Secular Society’s Secularist of the Year Award (2005), amongst others.

Mimzy Vidz (Marwa) is an ex-Muslim Youtuber who discusses issues that Muslims and non Muslims face. She is part of the movement to normalise ex Muslims and put an end to blamsphemy and apostate scrutiny in Muslim communities and raise awareness of these problems. Marwa went to a Muslim school most of her life in London. She was a very religious Muslim and involved in various Muslim organisations and communities before becoming an Atheist 2 years ago.

Nahla Mahmoud is an environment and human rights activist originally from Sudan. She works with a number of campaigns in the UK, including One Law for All and Secular Middle East and North Africa. She leads the Sudanese Humanists Group and is former Spokesperson for the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain.

Sadia Hameed is a Spokesperson of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and has been featured in a 2016 film, “Islam’s Non Believers”, by award-winning filmmaker Deeyah Khan. She is also a human rights activist and Honour Based Violence, Forced Marriage and FGM Consultant, based in Gloucestershire, working in the sexual violence field, with a focus on Black Minority Ethnic women. Sadia organised a hugely successful event titled ‘Let’s Talk Honour’ in October 2016, which was held at Gloucester University. She also launched Critical Sisters. She is Winner of IKWRO Special Recognition: Activist of the Year 2017.

Samint is a painter and a universalist secularist feminist who uses her art as a weapon against patriarchy. Her goal is to highlight and expose the violence due to male domination, and to condemn the numerous religious precepts imposed on girls and women. Her recent collection, entitled ‘the basics of patriarchy’, denounces the oppression of the islamic veil through works entitled “my hair is mine” and “modest men,” the extremism of islamist group Boko Haram through hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, and against female circumcision and the commodification of women’s bodies.

Shelley Segal is a singer-songwriter involved in secular activism. Her first record, “An Atheist Album” is a passionate response to dogmatic belief, inequality, religious oppression and the idea that only the devout can be grateful and good. The record gives a voice to the often underrepresented views of non-religious people, the fastest growing minority in many countries. It also creates opportunities to discuss issues of secularism with the mainstream media. Her voice has taken her around the world including England, Australia and ten tours of the United States. She has released seven recording projects of her own and runs independent record label True Music where she works with other artists. An award winning songwriter, powerful performer and explicit story-teller, Shelley uses her music not only to express the way she sees the world but to create the world she wants to see.

Zara Kay is a Tanzanian ex-Muslim Atheist Activist, based in Australia. Zara spent most of her childhood in Tanzania and was brought up as a Shia Muslim in the Khoja Shia Ithnasheri Jamaat society. Zara is the founder of Faithless Hijabi, a platform to enable ExMuslim women to share their stories, about their journey from religion to reason. Over time FH expanded to being an advocate for women’s rights, from organising funding to collaborating with teams internationally to ensure women who had left Islam are getting the support they need.

More information on Seular Conference 2019 website or email maryamnamazie@gmail.com.

Time

(Saturday) 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

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23marAll DayAtheist Coming Out Day

21mar6:00 pm8:00 pmDebate at Brunel University

16mar2:00 pm5:00 pmCEMB Social - Movie & Munchies

08marAll Day8 March International Women's Day Protest: Women Against Allah

Event Details

On 8 March International Women's Day Protest, join #WomenAgainstAllah #WomenAgainstGod #WomenAgainstReligions #WomenAgainstQuran #WomenAgainstSharia #NotHalfAMan #NoShame FARSI زنان_علیه_الله# زنان_علیه_خدا# زنان_علیه_مذاهب# زنان_علیه_قرآن# زنان_علیه_شریعت# نیمی_از_مرد_نیستم# بدون_شرم# TURKISH #AllahaKarşıKadınlar #TanrıyaKarşıKadınlar #DinlereKarşıKadınlar #KuranaKarşıKadınlar #ŞeriataKarşıKadınlar #ErkeğinYarısıDeğil #AyıpDeğil ARABIC نساء_ضد_الله# نساء_ضد_الإله# نساء_ضد_الأديان# نساء_ضد_القرآن# نساء_ضد_الشريعة# لست_نصف_رجل# لا_عار# URDU عورت_اللہ_کے_خلاف# عورت_خدا_کے_خلاف# عورت_مذہب_کے_خلاف# عورت_قرآن_کے_خلاف # عورت_شر یعت_کے_خلاف# عورت_آدھی_گوا ہی# عورت_ہونا_کوئی_شرمندگی_نہیں# BENGALI #আল্লাহর_বিপক্ষে_নারী #ঈশ্বরের_বিপক্ষে_নারী #ধর্মের_বিপক্ষে_নারী #কুরআনের_বিপক্ষে_নারী #শরিয়ার_বিপক্ষে_নারী #পুরুষের_অর্ধেক_নয় #কোন_লজ্জা_নয় FRENCH #FemmesContreAllah #FemmesContreDieu #FemmesContreLesReligions #FemmesContreLeCoran #FemmesContreSharia #PasunDemiHomme #PasdeHonte GERMAN #FrauenGegenAllah #FrauenGegenGott #FrauenGegenReligionen #FrauenGegenQuran #FrauenGegenSharia #NichtHalberMann #KeineSchande TAMIL #அல்லாஹ்வைஎதிர்க்கும்பெண்கள் #கடவுளைஎதிர்க்கும்பெண்கள் #மதங்களைஎதிர்க்கும்பெண்கள் #குர்ஆனைஎதிர்க்கும்பெண்கள் #ஷரியாவைஎதிர்க்கும்பெண்கள் #நாம்ஆணில்பாதிஅல்ல #வெட்கம்தேவையற்றது

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Event Details

On 8 March International Women’s Day Protest, join

#WomenAgainstAllah
#WomenAgainstGod
#WomenAgainstReligions
#WomenAgainstQuran
#WomenAgainstSharia
#NotHalfAMan
#NoShame

FARSI

زنان_علیه_الله#
زنان_علیه_خدا#
زنان_علیه_مذاهب#
زنان_علیه_قرآن#
زنان_علیه_شریعت#
نیمی_از_مرد_نیستم#
بدون_شرم#

TURKISH

#AllahaKarşıKadınlar
#TanrıyaKarşıKadınlar
#DinlereKarşıKadınlar
#KuranaKarşıKadınlar
#ŞeriataKarşıKadınlar
#ErkeğinYarısıDeğil
#AyıpDeğil

ARABIC

نساء_ضد_الله#
نساء_ضد_الإله#
نساء_ضد_الأديان#
نساء_ضد_القرآن#
نساء_ضد_الشريعة#
لست_نصف_رجل#
لا_عار#

URDU

عورت_اللہ_کے_خلاف#
عورت_خدا_کے_خلاف#
عورت_مذہب_کے_خلاف#
عورت_قرآن_کے_خلاف #
عورت_شر یعت_کے_خلاف#
عورت_آدھی_گوا ہی#
عورت_ہونا_کوئی_شرمندگی_نہیں#

BENGALI

#আল্লাহর_বিপক্ষে_নারী
#ঈশ্বরের_বিপক্ষে_নারী
#ধর্মের_বিপক্ষে_নারী
#কুরআনের_বিপক্ষে_নারী
#শরিয়ার_বিপক্ষে_নারী
#পুরুষের_অর্ধেক_নয়
#কোন_লজ্জা_নয়

FRENCH

#FemmesContreAllah
#FemmesContreDieu
#FemmesContreLesReligions
#FemmesContreLeCoran
#FemmesContreSharia
#PasunDemiHomme
#PasdeHonte

GERMAN

#FrauenGegenAllah
#FrauenGegenGott
#FrauenGegenReligionen
#FrauenGegenQuran
#FrauenGegenSharia
#NichtHalberMann
#KeineSchande

TAMIL

#அல்லாஹ்வைஎதிர்க்கும்பெண்கள்
#கடவுளைஎதிர்க்கும்பெண்கள்
#மதங்களைஎதிர்க்கும்பெண்கள்
#குர்ஆனைஎதிர்க்கும்பெண்கள்
#ஷரியாவைஎதிர்க்கும்பெண்கள்
#நாம்ஆணில்பாதிஅல்ல
#வெட்கம்தேவையற்றது

Time

All Day (Friday)

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04mar6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

28feb7:00 pm9:00 pmCambridge University on LGBT Rights, Atheism and Blasphemy

28feb6:00 pm8:00 pmBirmingham Support Group

27feb6:30 pm9:00 pmBloody Shame - How to lift the menstrual taboo (Debate & Drinks)

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Event Details

A frank and open panel discussion on the menstrual taboo: why it exists, how it manifests itself, and how we can lift it.

The natural, biological process of menstruating is a source of shame, inconvenience and awkwardness for millions of women all over the world. Many hide that they’re on their periods, and are made to feel ashamed of it. Menstruation has been used across many cultures, religions and even in folklore to vilify and taint women.

In some countries the taboos and myths that surround it can be extremely harmful and lead to devastating consequences. Such as in Nepal where in December 2016, a 15-year-old girl died after being banished to a badly ventilated shed during her period. She was victim of an old tradition known as chhaupadi, practised in rural areas in the west of the country, which have forced women into seclusion, often in cattle sheds alongside the animals. From extreme to subtle, many societies shun mentsruatinxg women and shroud periods in euphemism. Even adverts for sanitary protection use blue liquid instead of red to demonstrate absorbency of period products. Why the fear of menstrual blood?

A UK government health report published in 2018 details that women’s concerns about period pains and periods are their third biggest reproductive health worry. They just don’t dare speak about it. It’s time we did!

Our panellists are historian Louise Foxcroft, activist Sadia Hameed and Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Shazia Malik, comedian and campaigner Chella Quint.

The debate will be followed by a drinks reception during which you will also have the opportunity to meet brands who offer a range of alternative period products, such as period pants and mentruation cups. Take the opportunity to speak freely about bleeding! Let’s lift the shame.

Get your tickets using the following links:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bloody-shame-how-to-lift-the-menstrual-taboo-debate-drinks-tickets-53583908914

or

http://www.equationx.co.uk/

Time

(Wednesday) 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

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24feb9:00 am7:00 pmBritish Muslim Conference

16feb2:00 pm5:00 pmCEMB Social - Movie & Munchies

14feb6:30 pm10:00 pmWhy we defended Rushdie and why it is still important today: 30 Years After the Fatwa

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Event Details

14 February, 6:30pm-10pm, Conway Hall, London

Why we defended Rushdie and why it is still important today: 30 Years After

On this Valentine’s Day, the 30th anniversary of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, join Feminist Dissent to defend the right to apostasy, to love, to flee persecution and seek asylum/Oppose blasphemy laws, the threat to free speech and the deportation of apostates.

Get tickets here.

Programme:

6:30 pm: Registration and Refreshments

7:00 pm: Film Screening

“Hullabaloo over The Satanic Verses” and “Struggle or Submission? Women in Islam” (films by Gita Sahgal)

8:00 pm: Panel Discussion

Maureen Freely (editorial collective member of Feminist Dissent; author, journalist, translator and academic; Chair of English PEN and advocate for writers at risk, especially in Turkey)

Maryam Namazie (secularist and human rights activist, commentator and broadcaster; co-founder of Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and the One Law for All campaign)

Pragna Patel (editorial collective member of Feminist Dissent; co-founder of Women Against Fundamentalism, Director of Southall Black Sisters)

Gita Sahgal (editorial collective member of Feminist Dissent; writer, film-maker, human rights activist; founder of the Centre for Secular Space which challenges fundamentalism in all religions and co-founder of Women Against Fundamentalism)

Salil Tripathi (writer and journalist; PEN International, Writers in Prison committee; author of The Colonel Who Would Not Repentand Offence: the Hindu Case.)

Background: On May 27, 1989, 40 women of many religions and none stood at Parliament Square to oppose a massive march of orthodox Muslims demanding the banning of Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, as well as a National Front demonstration making racist attacks on Muslims in Britain. The march by orthodox Muslims called for the promulgation of blasphemy law to protect Islam from what they saw as an attack on their religion. They were supporting a fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeni demanding that Rushdie be killed. Under the banner, ‘Our Tradition, Struggle Not Submission’, the women’s stand for Rushdie was part of their defence of their secular traditions and for their own right to read and dissent and to defend secular values and religious freedom. This was a foundational moment for Women Against Fundamentalism, a group committed to opposing the rise of fundamentalism in all religions across the world.

Although WAF no longer exists as a formal organization, many of its members have allied with other organisations to continue to campaign against fundamentalism’s impact on women and sexual minorities, as well as against blasphemy laws, and to support the growing movement of people known and unknown across the world who are fleeing from fundamentalist violence. In Britain, they oppose the UK government’s hostile environment against migrants and refugees, as well as the police’s failure to deal with death threats against atheists.

Conway Hall was the location of a benefit/fundraiser for WAF in August 1989. We are proud to be returning to this historic location to continue WAF’s work against fundamentalism and racism.

Time

(Thursday) 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm

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12feb6:00 pm8:00 pmMeet-Up with Sadia Hameed on FGM and MGM

05feb6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

01feb2:00 pm3:00 pmWorld Hijab Day Protest #NoHijabDay - CANCELLED!

31jan6:00 pm8:00 pmBirmingham Support Group

31jan10:00 am12:00 pm31 January 2019, Amsterdam Talk to students of Calvijn College Amsterdam and Het Amsterdams Lyceum

30jan8:00 pm10:00 pmDe Balie Freedom Lecture, Amsterdam

29jan7:00 pm9:00 pmFreedom Lecture, Brussels

22jan6:00 pm8:00 pmWarwick for Free Speech and Human Rights at Warwick University

20jan12:00 pm5:00 pmLGBT & Secular Rights At Risk: A Bangladesh Perspective

19jan2:00 pm5:00 pmCEMB Social - Movies & Munchies

16janAll DayNever Forget Fadime International Conference in Swedish Parliament

08jan6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

06dec7:00 pm8:30 pmLEAVING FAITH BEHIND | AN EVENING WITH THE AUTHORS

04dec6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

25novAll DayConference on Sharia, Segregation and Secularism

06nov6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

02novAll Day04San Francisco Freedom from Religion National Convention

21oct1:45 pm3:15 pmFilia talk - Feminism and Class Struggle

20oct5:45 pm7:15 amFilia talk - Secularism is a Feminist Issue part 2

16oct6:30 pm9:00 pmAutumn Coming Out Party

10oct7:00 pm10:00 pmBullet Hole By Gloria Williams

02oct7:45 pmFeaturedBullet HoleBullet Hole @ Park Theatre

02oct6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

25sepAll DayPOSTPONED - European Parliament in Brussels on “New Media and political communication in the Mediterranean”

22sep2:00 pm4:00 pmCEMB Social - Meet and Eat

10sep7:15 pm9:30 pmCardiff Humanists - Heresy, Blasphemy and Apostasy

04sep6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

28aug6:00 pm8:00 pmMeet up with Imad Iddine Habib - 28th August 6pm

21aug5:00 pm9:00 pmBring and Share Heathen Veggie Eid Party

18aug2:00 pm4:00 pmCEMB social - Meet and Eat

11aug2:00 pm6:00 pmFestival of Reason & Freethought 2018 (For Ex-Believers & Non-Believers)

07aug6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

24jul6:00 pm8:00 pmMeet up with Hassan Radwan - 24th July at 6pm

21jul10:30 am5:00 pmCEMB Social - Thorpe park Visit

07julAll DayLondon Pride

03jul6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

26jun6:00 pm8:00 pmHONOUR, SHAME AND APOSTASY WITH SADIA HAMEED

23junAll Day2018 Muslimish Conference

18jun9:00 am2:00 pmVigil for imprisoned writers in Saudi Arabia - Friday 18 May, 9:00 am—Monday 18 June, 2:00 pm

16jun2:00 pm4:00 pmCEMB social - meet and eat

14jun6:00 pm9:00 pmLGBT Rights, Apostasy and Blasphemy at Pride Festival

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Event Details

Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) is organising a screening of the film, Islam’s Non-Believers, by award-winning filmmaker Deeyah Khan on 14th June, from 6:00-9:00pm, as part of London Pride Festival to raise awareness amongst those who are unfamiliar with CEMB & the ex-Muslim movement.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A on LGBT Rights, Apostasy and Blasphemy. Imaan, Mend, East London Mosque, Pride and Pink News have been invited to join the discussion.

Confirmed Speakers:

Jimmy Bangash, LGBT Activist

Matthew Mahmood-Ogston, Founder & Trustee of Naz and Matt Foundation

Sadia Hameed, Spokesperson of Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain

Syed Isteak Hossain Shawon, LGBT activist from Bangladesh and Editor of Boys Love World

The panel discussion will be chaired by Gita Sahgal, Chair of Centre for Secular Space.

The format of the evening is as follows:

6:00pm – Welcoming guests

6:30pm – Screening of Islam’s Non-belivers

7:15pm – Break for drinks

7:30pm – Panel Discussion

9:00pm – Finish

The venue location will be given to ticket holders closer to the date of the event. Please note that tickets cannot be bought at the door and must be purchased prior to the event.

For more information, please contact Daniel Fitzgerald and Sadia Hameed, exmuslimcouncil@gmail.com.

Biographies

Deeyah Khan is a critically acclaimed music producer and Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary film director. She was born in Norway to immigrant parents of Pashtun and Punjabi ancestry. Her 2012 multi-award winning documentary “Banaz: A Love Story” chronicles the “honour killing” of a young British Kurdish woman killed in 2006 in London. Deeyah’s second film the Bafta-nominated “Jihad” involved two years of interviews and filming with Islamic extremists, convicted terrorists and former jihadis. Her third film is on ex-Muslims, called “Islam’s Non Believers”. She has also received several awards for her work supporting freedom of expression, human rights and peace, including the Ossietzky prize by Norwegian PEN and the University of Oslo’s Human Rights Award. She received the 2016 Peer Gynt Prize from the Parliament of Norway. Deeyah is also the CEO of Fuuse. One of the most recent Fuuse initiatives is “sister-hood”, a digital magazine and a series of live events spotlighting the voices of women of Muslim heritage.

Gita Sahgal is a writer, journalist, film-maker and rights activist. She is currently Founder and Director of Centre for Secular Space. She was formerly Head of the Gender Unit at Amnesty International; she was suspended in 2010 after she was quoted criticising Amnesty for its high-profile associations with the Islamist Moazzam Begg, the director of a group called Cageprisoners. For many years she served on the board of Southall Black Sisters and was a founder of Women Against Fundamentalism and Awaaz: South Asia Watch. With Nira Yival Davis, she edited “Refusing Holy Orders: Women and Fundamentalism in Britain” ( London, 1992). Among her articles are “Legislating Utopia? Violence Against Women, Identities and Interventions” in “The Situated Politics of Belonging”. During the 1980s, she worked for a Black current affairs programme called “Bandung File” on Channel 4 TV. She made two films about the Rushdie affair, “Hullaballoo Over Satanic Verses” and “Struggle or Submission”. She has also made two programmes for Dispatches Channel 4, “The Provoked Wife” on the case of Kiranjit Ahluwalia and “The War Crimes File” an investigation into allegations of war crimes committed by members of the Jamaat i Islami in Bangladesh in 1971.

Jimmy Bangash is a gay British ex-Muslim Pakistani living in the UK. He grew up in a traditional Pashtun family in London where he struggled with both the homophobia and ardent misogyny within his community. He has written poems and prose about these experiences; many of which have been published on Sedaa. As an LGBT ex-Muslim activist, he is committed to unbridling the reins of patriarchy on gays and women of Muslim heritage. As a coach, he seeks to empower those individuals liberated from problematic ideologies to live a life of authenticity, self-assurance and self-expression.

Matthew Mahmood-Ogston is Founder & Trustee of Naz and Matt Foundation. In 2001, soon after coming out to himself, Matt met his soulmate Naz in a nightclub in Birmingham. Naz was 21, Matt was 23. They quickly fell in love and ran away to London to be themselves and escape the intense pressures of not being out to family. They had to keep their relationship a secret for fear of what might happen if they were found out. After 13 years together and engaged to be married, Naz (Dr Nazim Mahmood) sadly took his own life, just two days after being confronted about his sexuality by his deeply religious family during Eid. It was the first time they had heard that their son was gay, in a long term relationship with another man, in love, and planning to get married. Their solution was to tell Naz that he needed to see a psychiatrist to be ‘cured’ for being gay. For ‘shame’ not to be brought on the family. In memory of Naz, Matt set up “Naz and Matt Foundation”, a registered charity that tackles religious and cultural homophobia. The organisation helps families learn how to accept their LGBTQI+ children for who they really are – for who they were born to be. The Foundation’s mission is to “Never let religion, any religion, come in the way of the unconditional love between parents and their children.”

Sadia Hameed is a Spokesperson of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and has been featured in a 2016 film, “Islam’s Non Believers”, by award-winning filmmaker Deeyah Khan. She is also a human rights activist and Honour Based Violence, Forced Marriage and FGM Consultant, based in Gloucestershire, working in the sexual violence field, with a focus on Black Minority Ethnic women. Sadia organised a hugely successful event titled ‘Let’s Talk Honour’ in October 2016, which was held at Gloucester University. She also launched Critical Sisters. She is Winner of IKWRO Special Recognition: Activist of the Year 2017.

Syed Isteak Hossain Shawon is an LGBT activist from Bangladesh and Editor of Boys Love World, which has been established in 2011 as an online Magazine for Bangladeshi LGBT Activists. The mission of the Boys Love World is to advocate and defend LGBT community and its members. Bangladeshi LGBT rights activists and bloggers from different country contributes to Boys Love World with their quality writings and engages with the readers. Boys Love World has many readers not only in Bangladesh but around the world. Our main aim is to educate mass people about LGBT community and cultivating a sentiment in favour of equality and diversity to create a safe environment where LGBT people can promote and explore their culture and work in the interests of the public benefit to remove any social exclusion. We achieve our aims and objectives by holding various events, workshops and seminars throughout the year.

Time

(Thursday) 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Organizer

CEMBHello@Ex-Muslim.org.uk Kings Cross, Central London, United Kingdom

Learn More

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05jun6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

02junAll DayUAAR Cagliari Public debate on state secularism and civil rights, Italy

31may6:30 pmCEMB swimming lesson

29may6:00 pm8:00 pmEVENING WITH LAWYER ANA GONZÁLEZ ON APOSTASY AND ASYLUM

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Event Details

An evening with Lawyer Ana Gonzalez on Apostasy and Asylum

Tuesday 29 May 2018, 6:00pm-8:00pm, central London by Kings Cross
Evening with lawyer Ana González on apostasy and asylum
Ana will go through asylum procedures and also provide one-on-one advice during the evening.

PLEASE NOTE: If you would like to attend, please email exmuslimcouncil@gmail.com to register and receive further information.

Suggested donation: £3 waged; £1 unwaged.

Biography:

Ana Gonzalez was born in Spain and graduated in Employment Law at the University of La Coruna. She moved to the UK in 1994 and qualified as a solicitor in 2003.

Ana became a partner at Wilson Solicitors LLP in 2010.

Having trained in asylum, nationality and public law, she now practises in immigration and asylum work, and has interests in human rights and European Law. Ana is an internationally recognised expert in gender and sexuality-based asylum claims as well as having extensive expertise in representing victims of human trafficking.

Ana is praised in Chambers and Partners for her “constant attention to cases, leading client care and real knowledge of the law.” She “continues to stand out for significant work on human trafficking cases, often raising new country guidance points” (2012). “She is a stand-out practitioner in the field of refugee law, with particular expertise in trafficking cases” (2014). She “is very experienced, passionate and has very good judgement.” (2016)
She practises in all aspects of immigration and asylum work, and has a specialist interest in European law.

Ana has been with Wilson since 1999. Prior to joining us Ana was at the well respected Refugee Legal Centre. She has been a guest speaker at the London School of Economics and is currently involved in the ILPA asylum sub-committee group.

Ana has been featured in the New Statesman for her excellent work.

She has been instrumental in supporting asylum cases of those deemed “apostates” from Islam.

Time

(Tuesday) 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Calendar GoogleCal

22may(may 22)9:00 am23(may 23)12:00 pmSeminar at European Parliament on Fundamentalism & Neo-Liberalism in Europe

18may12:00 pm2:00 pmFast-Defying Protest in solidarity with those persecuted during Ramadan

04mayAll Day06Giornate Della Laicità 2018, Reggio Emilia, Italy

01may6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

19apr7:00 pm12:00 amFEMEN 10th Anniversary: Riot Party

17apr6:30 pm8:30 pmSpring Coming Out Party, London

04apr6:00 pm8:00 pmMonthly Support Group

27mar7:30 pm9:30 pmIslamist fundamentalism and its impact on women

06mar6:30 pm8:30 pmEvening with Houzan Mahmoud for International Women's Day

04mar11:30 am5:00 pmMarch4Women - 4th March 2018

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Event Details

Hello

On Sunday 4th March 2018 Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain are going to be joining the , organised by international development charity Care International UK, ahead of International Women’s Day. We would love it if you could join us on the march. The aims of the march:

Equal rights for people of all genders
The right to speak out and be heard
The right to work free of harassment and abuse
The right of every woman and girl around the world to live, learn and earn with safety, dignity and respect

This is a march for people of all genders, adults and children.

What’s more, we will also be using the march as an opportunity to show our support for the brave women of Iran who are currently protesting the country’s the mandatory hijab laws. We wish to show solidarity with these brave women as well as encourage other groups to support the women of Iran. This is a great opportunity to bring this issue to the attention of the wider public. Please feel free to bring a white scarf on a stick, to hold up in solidarity.

Please see this report by Amnesty International for more details about compulsory veiling protests in Iran, and the mistreatment of protesters:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/ latest/news/2018/02/iran– dozens-of-women-ill-treated- and-at-risk-of-long-jail- terms-for-peacefully- protesting-compulsory-veiling/

We will meet at 11.30am at the Monument to Emmeline Pankhurst. We will join the main march at 11.50, which starts at midday at Millbank. We will have some scarves on sticks and banners to give out, please feel free to bring your own. If you are running late and need to find the group on the march you can call Hana on 07740049689.

To be part of the March4Women, you need to register with Care International. You can do so at the address below:

https://www.careinternational. org.uk/march4women

You can find out more about the March4Women here:

https://www.careinternational. org.uk/march4women/map-and- timetable

https://www.careinternational. org.uk/march4women/ march4women-faqs

Hope to see you there.

Best wishes,

Sadia Hameed and the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain

Time

(Sunday) 11:30 am - 5:00 pm

Calendar GoogleCal

27feb6:00 pm8:00 pmCANCELLED - DUE TO POOR WEATHER Evening with lawyer Ana González on apostasy and asylum

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Event Details

CANCELLED DUE TO POOR WEATHER

THE EVENT WILL BE RESCHEDULED

Tuesday 27 February 2018, 6:00pm-8:00pm, central London by Kings Cross
Evening with lawyer Ana González on apostasy and asylum
Ana will go through asylum procedures and also provide one-on-one advice during the evening.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a new venue for our monthly meet-ups; if you would like to attend, please email onelawforall@gmail.com to register and receive further information.

Suggested donation: £3 waged; £1 unwaged.

Biography:

Ana Gonzalez was born in Spain and graduated in Employment Law at the University of La Coruna. She moved to the UK in 1994 and qualified as a solicitor in 2003.

Ana became a partner at Wilson Solicitors LLP in 2010.

Having trained in asylum, nationality and public law, she now practises in immigration and asylum work, and has interests in human rights and European Law. Ana is an internationally recognised expert in gender and sexuality-based asylum claims as well as having extensive expertise in representing victims of human trafficking.

Ana is praised in Chambers and Partners for her “constant attention to cases, leading client care and real knowledge of the law.” She “continues to stand out for significant work on human trafficking cases, often raising new country guidance points” (2012). “She is a stand-out practitioner in the field of refugee law, with particular expertise in trafficking cases” (2014). She “is very experienced, passionate and has very good judgement.” (2016)
She practises in all aspects of immigration and asylum work, and has a specialist interest in European law.

Ana has been with Wilson since 1999. Prior to joining us Ana was at the well respected Refugee Legal Centre. She has been a guest speaker at the London School of Economics and is currently involved in the ILPA asylum sub-committee group.

Ana has been featured in the New Statesman for her excellent work.

She has been instrumental in supporting asylum cases of those deemed “apostates” from Islam.

Time

(Tuesday) 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Calendar GoogleCal

10febAll DayLosing your Religion: ex-Muslims Speak, Melbourne

30jan6:30 pm8:30 pmThe ex-Muslim experience through art workshop, London

20jan(jan 20)10:00 am22(jan 22)5:30 pmInternational Conference in Stockholm

13janAll DayAVEC CHARLIE, Laïcité, j'écris ton nom, Observatoire de la Laïcité de Saint Denis

09jan1:00 pm2:00 pmLondon protest for imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi

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Event Details

9 January 2018, 1:00 pm-2:00 pm
At the Curzon Street entrance to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mayfair, London

On 9 January, English PEN and Reporters Without Borders will hold a special lunchtime vigil at the Saudi Embassy in London to mark three years since Raif Badawi was first flogged. Please join us between 1-2pm, even if just for a few minutes on your lunchbreak, to show the Saudi authorities we will not forget him. Activists are asked to meet at the Curzon Street entrance to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mayfair, London (note: the postal address of the Embassy is 30-32 Charles Street).

The vigil will be co-sponsored by other organisations active on Raif Badawi’s case including Amnesty International UK, Bread and Roses TV, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, International Humanist and Ethical Union – IHEU, and One Law For All.

Three years ago, on 9 January 2015, reports emerged that the imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi had been flogged in Saudi Arabia. Although Badawi had been arrested in June 2012 and sentenced almost two years later – to ten years in prison and 1000 lashes – it was the brutal public flogging that took place that January morning, covert footage of which began to make its way around the world, that forced the international community to pay any real attention to his plight.

TAKE ACTION

Join our vigil

On 9 January, English PEN and Reporters Without Border will hold a special lunchtime vigil at the Saudi Embassy in London to mark three years since Raif Badawi was flogged. Please join us between 1-2pm (even if just for a few minutes on your lunchbreak!) to show the Saudi authorities we will not forget him. Let us know if you’re coming and please invite your friends.

The vigil will be co-sponsored by other organisations active on Raif Badawi’s case including Amnesty International UK, Bread and Roses TV, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, International Humanist and Ethical Union – IHEU, and One Law For All.

Send a card

PEN’s annual Season’s Greetings initiative encourages members and supporters to send messages to writers at risk around the world and their families. #PENgreetings

Ask your MP for their support

Write to your MP urging them to support this Early Day Motion for Raif Badawi’s release via https://www.writetothem.com/

Spread the word

Share details of Raif Badawi’s case on social media #FreeRaif

Time

(Tuesday) 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Calendar GoogleCal

06janAll Day#Toujours Charlie, Paris

10dec2:00 pm6:00 pmEnd-Year Celebration, London

02dec5:00 pm7:00 pmNormalising Dissent Tour, Islam and Identity, NYC

30novAll Day01decNormalising Dissent Tour, Islam and Human Rights, MIT, Boston

17novAll DayCouncil of Ex-Muslims of Germany Event, Koln

10nov12:00 pm3:30 pmProtest at Iranian and Pakistani Embassies in defence of apostates and blasphemers, London

09nov7:30 pm9:30 pm"This House Has Lost Faith in Faith" debate at Cambridge Union

07nov6:30 pm8:30 pmEvening with Installation Artist Sadia Sadia

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Event Details

7 November 2017, Evening Meetup with Sadia Sadia, central London by Kings Cross, 6:30-8:30pm
PLEASE NOTE: This is our regular space for our monthly meet-ups; if you would like to attend, please email exmuslimcouncil@gmail.com to register and receive further information. If you already know the location, just show up.
Suggested donation: £3 waged; £1 unwaged.

Biography:

Sadia Sadia is a Canadian-born British installation artist. She was one of the first women in the world to be signed to a major label as a record producer, and became the first female member of the British Record Producer’s Guild (now the MPG Music Producer’s Guild), under the chairmanship of Sir George Martin. Her work has been sequenced to film and television by companies such as Polygram/Miramax, Interscope and Universal Pictures. Sadia was the music producer of the inaugural TUC ‘Respect: Unite Against Racism’ campaign, featuring dozens of international musicians. As an artist and film maker, Sadia’s work has been screened around the world in venues including the Melbourne International Film Festival, the Tricycle Theatre, the National Science and Media Museum and the Cinematheque Francaise. Her work forms part of the permanent collection of ACMI (the Australian Centre for the Moving Image). Sadia has a master’s degree in design from Central St Martin’s as well as a master’s degree in political science and economics with a specialisation in gender from Birkbeck University. She was born to a Pakistani Muslim father and is an atheist and ex-Muslim.

Time

(Tuesday) 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Calendar GoogleCal

28octAll DayAnarchist Book Fair

24oct6:30 pm8:30 pmEvening with Peter Tatchell, Human Rights Campaigneron the links between the gay rights and ex-Muslim rights

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Event Details

24 October 2017, Evening Meetup with Peter Tatchell, central London by Kings Cross, 6:30-8:30pm
PLEASE NOTE: This is our regular space for our monthly meet-ups; if you would like to attend, please email exmuslimcouncil@gmail.com to register and receive further information. If you already know the location, just show up.
Suggested donation: £3 waged; £1 unwaged.

Biography:

Peter Tatchell has been campaigning for human rights and global justice since 1967. New Statesman readers voted him sixth on their list of “Heroes of our Time” 2006. He won Campaigner of the Year at The Observer Ethical Awards 2009, as well as Secularist of the Year 2012. He writes and broadcasts on many human rights and social justice issues. In protest against the Archbishop of Canterbury’s support for legal discrimination against LGBT people, he interrupted Dr. Carey’s Easter Sunday Sermon in 1998. He attempted a citizen’s arrest of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in 1999 and again in 2001, and was beaten unconscious the second time. He was also arrested and beaten when he went to support Moscow LGBT Pride in 2007. Both attacks left him with brain and eye damage. He is currently the Director of the human rights organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

Time

(Tuesday) 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm GMT

Location

Kings Cross

Organizer

CEMBHello@Ex-Muslim.org.uk Kings Cross, Central London, United Kingdom

Calendar GoogleCal

20oct(oct 20)9:30 am22(oct 22)12:30 pmBeyond all Fundamentalisms, Rome

19oct7:00 pm9:00 pmNottingham University ASH society

14octAll Day15London Feminist Conference

13oct(oct 13)9:00 am15(oct 15)5:30 pmGrowing Signs of Fundamentalism, Belgrade

26sep6:30 pm8:30 pmEvening with lawyer Ana Gonzálezon apostasy and asylum

15sepAll Day17Freedom from Religion Foundation40th National Convention, Madison, WI

24jul2:00 pm6:00 pmBodypainting Action by Victoria Gugenheim in support of ex-Muslims

24jul2:00 pm8:00 pmBodypainting Actionby Victoria Gugenheim in support of ex-Muslims

22julAll Day24International Conference on Freedom of Conscience and Expression in the 21st Century

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Event Details

International Conference on Freedom of Conscience and Expression in the 21st Century
Saturday and Sunday 22-24 July 2017
Central London, UK

BUY TICKETS TODAY . NO TICKETS SOLD AT DOOR.

SEE EXCITING SCHEDULE HERE.

READ INTERVIEW DISCUSSING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CONFERENCE AT A TIME WHEN ATHEISTS AND SECULARISTS UNDER INCREASING ATTACK.

Join over 70 notable free-thinkers from around the world for a weekend of discussions and debates on freedom of conscience and expression in the 21st century at a spectacular venue in central London during 22-23 July 2017.

On 24 July, an activist strategy meeting will be followed by body-painting in support of ex-Muslims, which will be open to the public.

The two-day conference will discuss censorship and blasphemy laws, freedom of and from religion, apostasy, the limits of religion’s role in society, LGBT and women’s rights, atheism, secular values and more.

Speakers from countries or the Diaspora as diverse as Algeria, Bangladesh, Canada, Egypt, France, India, Iran, Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, Ireland, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia, UK, Ukraine, US and Yemen will gather in London to defend freedom of conscience and expression and argue that freedoms are not western but universal.

The conference will highlight the voices of people on the frontlines of resistance – many of them persecuted and exiled – as well as address challenges faced by activists and freethinkers, elaborate on the links between democratic politics and free expression and conscience, promote secular and rights-based alternatives, and establish priorities for collective action.

Art and culture will be integral to the event as will lively debate with the dauntless use of the free word.

Confirmed Distinguished Speakers:
A C Grayling, Philosopher
Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, Egyptian Feminist Activist
Ani Zonneveld, Founder and President of Muslims for Progressive Values
Annie Laurie Gaylor, Co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation
Armin Navabi, Founder of Atheist Republic
Aryan Arian, Photographer/Filmmaker
Asher Fainman, President of Goldsmiths Atheist Society
Benjamin David, Editor-in-Chief of Conatus News
Bonya Ahmed, Activist, Writer and Blogger at Mukto-Mona
Cemal Knudsen Yucel, Co-Founder and Chair of Ex-Muslims of Norway
Chris Moos, Secular Activist
Damon Conlan and Neil Edwards, Magicians
Dan Barker, Co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation
Dave Silverman, President of American Atheists
Deeyah Khan, Filmmaker
Djemila Benhabib, Author and Activist
Elham Manea, Yemeni-born Author and Human Rights Campaigner
Fariborz Pooya, Bread and Roses TV Presenter and Editor
Fauzia Ilyas, Founder of Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan
Gina Khan, One Law for All Spokesperson
Gita Sahgal, Director of Centre for Secular Space
Gona Saed, Co-Founder of Kurdistan Secular Centre
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Award-winning Playwright
Halima Begum, Ex-Muslim Activist and Blogger
Hassan Radwan, Agnostic Muslim Khutbahs blog
Houzan Mahmoud, Culture Project Co-Founder
Imad Iddine Habib, Founder of Council of Ex-Muslims of Morocco
Inna Shevchenko, FEMEN Leader
Iram Ramzan, Journalist and Founder of Sedaa
Ismail Mohamed, Egyptian Atheist and Founder of Black Ducks Talk Show
Jane Donnelly, Atheist Ireland’s Human Rights Officer
Jimmy Bangash, LGBT Ex-Muslim Activist
Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship
Karima Bennoune, UN Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights
Karrar D. Al Asfoor, Co-founder of Atheist Alliance Middle East and North Africa (Visa Denied)
Kate Smurthwaite, Comedian
Kenan Malik, Author and Broadcaster
London Humanist Choir
Marieme Helie Lucas, Algerian Sociologist and Founder of Secularism is a Women’s Issue
Maryam Namazie, Iranian-born Rights Activist, Writer and Conference Organiser
Mazen Abou Hamdan, Co-Founder of Freethought Lebanon
Michael Nugent, Atheist Ireland’s Chairperson
Mohammed Alkhadra, Founder of Jordanian Atheists Group
Nadia El Fani, Tunisian Filmmaker
Nina Sankari, Polish Secular Activist
Noura Embabi, Muslim-ish President
Peter Tatchell, Human Rights Campaigner
Pragna Patel, Director of Southall Black Sisters
Rahila Gupta, Writer and Journalist
Rana Ahmad, Head of the RDF Arab Atheist Community
Richard Dawkins, Author and Scientist
Sadia Hameed, Spokesperson of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
Sanal Edamaruku, Founder and President of Rationalist International
Sarah Haider, Co-founder of Ex-Muslims of North America
Sarah Peace, Nigerian Artist and Director of Fireproof Library
Savin Bapir Tardy, Lecturer in Psychology at UWL
Shabana Rehman, Performance Artist and Human and Animal Rights Advocate
Shelley Segal, Singer/Songwriter
Tasneem Khalil, Swedish-Bangladeshi Journalist and Editor of Independent World Report
Teresa Gimenez Barbat, MEP, Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and Euromind
Victoria Gugenheim, Award-winning Body Artist
Waleed Al Husseini, Palestinian Writer and Founder of Council of Ex-Muslims of France
Yasmin Rehman, Women’s Rights Campaigner
Zehra Pala, President of Atheism Association of Turkey
Zineb El Rhazoui, Moroccan-born Author

Saturday Day Delegate Rate: £85
Sunday Day Delegate Rate: £85
Sunday Dinner with Entertainment: £65
Saturday and Sunday Day Delegate Rate: £170

FULL CONFERENCE TICKET INCLUDING SATURDAY AND SUNDAY DAY DELEGATE RATE, COCKTAILS, AND DINNER WITH ENTERTAINMENT: £230 unwaged; £260 waged; £350 organisations

All tickets must be purchased beforehand. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Organisations/vendors can book stalls for the two-day conference for a flat rate of £500.

For more information, contact:
Maryam Namazie
maryamnamazie@gmail.com
Tel: +44 (0)7719166731
www.secularconference.com

The conference is sponsored by: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe; Atheist International Alliance; Bread and Roses TV; Center for Inquiry; Centre for Secular Space; Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain; Culture Project; Euromind; Equal Rights Now; Fitnah; Freedom from Religion Foundation; National Secular Society; One Law for All; Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science; Southall Black Sisters; Secularism is a Women’s Issue, amongst others.

Time

july 22 (Saturday) - 24 (Monday)

Calendar GoogleCal

22julAll Day23International Conference onFreedom of Expression and Conscience in 21 Century

08julAll DayCEMB to join Gay Pride London

27jun6:30 pm8:30 pmEvening with Rahila Gupta, Journalist and Activist

23junAll DayRamadan Fast Defying Action in solidarity with persecuted

16jun9:26 pm9:26 pmMark fifth anniversary of Raif Badawi’s arrest

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Event Details

This month marks five years since the Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi was arrested in Jeddah in June 2012. Almost two years later, in May 2014, Badawi was sentenced to ten years in prison, 1000 lashes, a huge fine, and two additional penalties – a ten-year travel ban and ten-year ban from participating in visual, electronic and written media, both to be applied following his release. Raif has now served nearly half of his ten-year prison sentence and the campaign for his release, championed by his remarkable wife Ensaf Haidar, continues.English PEN was honoured to co-host Haidar during a recent trip to the UK, along with our colleagues at Reporters Without Borders. Haidar met with key human rights and free expression organisations active on her husband’s behalf, took part in a number of media interviews, and attended a special vigil at the Saudi Arabian Embassy, joined by many of her and her husband’s friends and supporters.Haidar also spoke at an event hosted by Doughty Street Chambers, at which she delivered a moving statement about her husband’s ongoing detention, translated by Bayan Abughaida:

Today I carry a message from my husband and my three children who have been deprived of their father for exercising a natural right to express his opinion.

I bring you a message of hope that one day, I will see my husband, Raif Badawi, standing among you on this platform, to talk to you about freedom and human rights, to tell you how freedom cannot be incarcerated, flogged, or executed. No matter how hard some try.

I also carry a message of determination:

A determined Saudi woman, standing here, and saying that a peaceful transition in Saudi Arabia is possible. With this new generation, the generation of globalisation, Internet, and blogs; ideas can no longer be prevented or blocked. It is a new change, a new revolution, from Morocco to Jakarta, young people today will determine the future and we must support and stand by them. Thus, your role here is participating in this change.

Raif Badawi’s message can be summed up as follows: The peaceful expression of opinion and thought is a non-negotiable human right, which is the right of all human beings with no exception.

However, the real prisoners are those who can defend freedom but do not….

Raif has not lost hope, but he is mentally and physically suffering from this unjust sentence. I can tell you that he is fine and very optimistic, but I will be lying. His mental health is worsening. So I beg you for more mobilisation and solidarity. What frightens every detainee is to be forgotten by the supporters of freedom.

TAKE ACTION

Join our protest at the Saudi Embassy

9-10am, Friday 16 June

To mark the five year anniversary of Raif Badawi’s arrest and the birthday of his lawyer Waleed Abu Al-Khair, who himself is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence, English PEN will be hosting a vigil at the Saudi Embassy in London and continuing to call for their immediate release.

We will be joined by colleagues from Bread and Roses TV, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, Index on Censorship, One Law For All, the Peter Tatchell Foundation and Reporters Without Borders. Please join us if you can.

NB Activists are asked to meet at the Curzon Street entrance to the Embassy. (note: the postal address of the Embassy is 30-32 Charles Street, Mayfair, London).

Spread the word

Please keep sharing details of Raif Badawi’s case and calls for his release on social media. Follow @Raif_Badawi on Twitter and tweet your support with the hashtag #FreeRaif

Join the photo action for Raif Badawi

We are aiming to get 1000 images to represent the 1000 lashes to which Raif has been sentenced. As well as helping to raise and maintain awareness of his case, these photos will serve as a powerful visual representation of the widespread support for Raif and his family .

Please share your photo, ideally with details of where it was taken (eg Embassy of Saudi Arabia, London, UK), with us before the 17 June 2017.

Download our #FreeRaif poster

Send us your photos

Via Twitter: Please share your photo with the hashtag #FreeRaif and tag @englishpen

Via Facebook: Please tag English PEN Writers at Risk in your photos, and use the hashtag #FreeRaif https://www.facebook.com/English-PEN-Writers-at-Risk-78698626750/

Via Email: Please email your photos, with the subject line ‘Free Raif photo’ to cat@englishpen.org

Time

(Friday) 9:26 pm - 9:26 pm

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23may6:30 pm8:30 pmEvening with Daniel Fitzgerald, Imad Iddine Habib and Jimmy Bangash on Pride

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Event Details

Tuesday 23 May 2017, 6:30pm-8:30pm, central London by Kings Cross
Evening with Daniel Fitzgerald, Imad Iddine Habib and Jimmy Bangash on Pride and the CEMB contingent which will march in the gay pride parade in London on 8 July 2017.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a new venue for our monthly meet-ups; if you would like to attend, please email exmuslimcouncil@gmail.com to register and receive further information. If you already know the new location, just show up.

Suggested donation: £3 waged; £1 unwaged.

Biographies:

Daniel Fitzgerald has been involved with with local and national LGBT politics for years, including organising LGBT History Month in Lambeth in 2003. He has also campaigned against Islamists like Abu Usamah who have incited murder of LGBT people. More recently, he has been involved with social housing issues. He is a Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain activist who is organising our first ever presence at this year’s Pride.

Imad Iddine Habib is a Moroccan atheist threatened for his atheism. He is founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Morocco, the first public atheist organisation in a country with Islam as the state religion. The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain declared May 15 “International Imad Day” in order to galvanise support for his case. His case was also highlighted in a 2013 CEMB report on the political and legal status of apostates in Islam. He is currently co-Spokesperson of Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain.

Jimmy Bangash is a gay British Ex-Muslim Pakistani living in the UK. He grew up in a traditional Pashtun family in London where he struggled with both the homophobia and ardent misogyny within his community. He has written poems and prose about these experiences; many of which have been published on Sedaa. As an LGBT Ex-Muslim activist he is committed to unbridling the reins of patriarchy from gays and women of Muslim heritage. As a coach, he seeks to empower those individuals liberated from problematic ideologies to live a life of authenticity, self-assurance and self-expression.

Time

(Tuesday) 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

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12mayAll Day14Rationalist International Conference, Helsinki, Finland

29aprAll Day‘Defending Progressivism’ London Conference

04apr6:30 pm8:30 pmEvening with Wissam Charafeddine, Co-Founder, Muslimish Support Network

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Event Details

Tuesday 4 April 2017, 6:30pm-8:30pm, central London by Kings Cross
Evening with Wissam Charafeddine, Co-Founder, Muslimish Support Network on Why the Classical Proof of God Does Not Work Anymore (based on his background on Islamic theology)

PLEASE NOTE: This is a new venue for our monthly meet-ups; if you would like to attend, please email exmuslimcouncil@gmail.com to register and receive further information. If you already know the new location, just show up.

Suggested donation: £3 waged; £1 unwaged.

Biography:

Wissam Charafeddine, was born in United Arab Emirates from Lebanese parents. He attended the Islamic Hanbaly Educational Institute and graduated with a diploma in Islamic Shariah. After the first Gulf war, his family immigrated to the U.S. During his academic studies, Wissam continued to study and give lectures on Islamic Shariah through distant-study programs with Hawzah of Ahlulbait in Qum, Iran, and with local scholars. He was the founder of Halakat Imam AlBaqir, an Islamic Studies Institute in Dearborn where he taught, among other teachers, various topics in Islamic studies. He was a co-founder of the Muslim Scouts of Michigan, Islamic Monitor Action Network, Islamic Unity Magazine, and was a member of various organizations, among which were the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic House of Wisdom, and Amnesty International.

In 2005, he co-founded IRSHAD (the Institute for Religious Studies, Humanities, and Dialogue) to seek free coexistence between human beings and the aspiration for building a better life centered around the well being of humanity. IRSHAD functions in its Islamic branch as a reform movement that calls for freedom of belief and expression, and a less literal interpretation of Quran.

In 2008-2009, while researching to write an article about Islam and Evolution, Wissam found new understanding of science, and adapted a new understanding of life based on it. The article was never finished, but a new intellectual journey started.

Wissam co-founded Muslimish in 2012, which is an organization that seeks to create an environment for support and dialogue among ex-Muslims and questioning Muslims, and fight for the freedom of expression and against blasphemy laws in countries under Islamic rules.

Time

(Tuesday) 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

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31marAll Day02aprAtheist Weekend, KFI Foundation, Poland

14mar7:00 pm9:00 pmUniversity of Edinburgh Humanist Society

11mar10:30 am2:00 pmCritical Sisters Launch, Cheltenham

08mar7:00 pm9:00 pmGoldsmiths University Viewing of Islam's Non Believers

24feb8:00 pm9:00 pmOxford Brookes University

24feb6:00 pm8:00 pmSecularism and Diversity Conversation, Westminster University

23feb1:00 am1:00 amUniversity of Nottingham

15febAll DayConference on Islam, Secular Integration, Freedom of Speech

07feb6:30 pm8:30 pmEvening with lawyer Ana González on apostasy and asylum

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Event Details

Tuesday 7 February 2017, 6:30pm-8:30pm, central London by Kings Cross
Evening with lawyer Ana González on apostasy and asylum
Ana will go through asylum procedures and also provide one-on-one advice during the evening.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a new venue for our monthly meet-ups; if you would like to attend, please email exmuslimcouncil@gmail.com to register and receive further information.

Suggested donation: £3 waged; £1 unwaged.

Biography:

Ana Gonzalez was born in Spain and graduated in Employment Law at the University of La Coruna. She moved to the UK in 1994 and qualified as a solicitor in 2003.

Ana became a partner at Wilson Solicitors LLP in 2010.

Having trained in asylum, nationality and public law, she now practises in immigration and asylum work, and has interests in human rights and European Law. Ana is an internationally recognised expert in gender and sexuality-based asylum claims as well as having extensive expertise in representing victims of human trafficking.

Ana is praised in Chambers and Partners for her “constant attention to cases, leading client care and real knowledge of the law.” She “continues to stand out for significant work on human trafficking cases, often raising new country guidance points” (2012). “She is a stand-out practitioner in the field of refugee law, with particular expertise in trafficking cases” (2014). She “is very experienced, passionate and has very good judgement.” (2016)
She practises in all aspects of immigration and asylum work, and has a specialist interest in European law.

Ana has been with Wilson since 1999. Prior to joining us Ana was at the well respected Refugee Legal Centre. She has been a guest speaker at the London School of Economics and is currently involved in the ILPA asylum sub-committee group.

Ana has been featured in the New Statesman for her excellent work.

She has been instrumental in supporting asylum cases of those deemed “apostates” from Islam.

Time

(Tuesday) 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

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27jan6:00 pm9:00 pmLSE Human Rights Society Debate

09dec6:00 pm9:00 pmSecularism, Freedom of Women, LGBT Rights, UCL

09nov7:00 pm9:00 pmBristol University

03novAll DayAsturian Cooperation for Development, Oviedo, Spain

24oct7:00 pm9:00 pmReligion, Spirituality and End of Life Care Event organised by Royal Society of Medicine

18oct7:00 pm9:00 pmEvening drinks with secular activist Chris Moos on gender segregation at universities

23sepAll Day25Women in Secularism 4 conference in Arlington, VA

14sepAll Day16Keele international symposium on child protection, Shaffordshire

18jul7:00 pm9:00 pmEvening Drinks with lawyer Ana González on apostasy and asylum

17jul7:00 pm9:00 pmLeicester Secular Society

09julAll DayWorkers' Liberty annual summer festival

01julAll DayFlashmob of apostates: “We need your Love”

27jun7:00 pm9:00 pmEvening with Yasmin Rehman, Centre for Secular Space on Polygamy

25jun6:00 am9:00 amLondon Black Atheists

24jun12:00 am6:21 pmFast-defying during Ramadan

18jun10:00 am7:00 pmMuslimish 2016 Annual Conference

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Event Details

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to the Muslimish 2016 Annual Conference! The conference will be held on June 18, 2016, from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM (EDT) at the Pennsylvania Hotel – 401 7th Ave, New York, NY 10001. The full-day event will host many speakers and cover a wide range of topics, including Why Muslimish?, The Right to Dissent, Promoting Science, and Fighting Blasphemy Laws. If you are a pioneer of truth and believe in freedom of conscience for all human beings, this conference is for you!

Background:

In recent years, progressive Muslims, ex-Muslims, and even regular Muslims are finding less and less space to question the establishment and live according to their own conscience. One of the main objectives of Muslimish is to provide an environment that supports and fosters discussion, questioning, and free speech. Additionally, in a century marked by great scientific progress and advancements in human thought, blasphemy and apostasy are still illegal in many countries, with Muslim-majority countries accounting for 75% of all countries that outlaw blasphemy and 100% that outlaw apostasy! This is simply unacceptable and must be stopped!

Muslimish Mission Statement:

Create a safe, supportive, and open-minded environment for the exchange of thoughts and ideas among current and former Muslims, foster a pluralist society that respects the rights of all individuals to live according to their conscience, and strive to abolish blasphemy and apostasy laws across the globe.

The Conference:

Entry into the conference will begin at 9:00 AM (EDT). Bagels and coffee refreshments will be provided. The conference will also contain two breaks for lunch and dinner. Please visit Muslimish website to reserve your spot. We hope to see you there!

You can also sign up to the Facebook Event Page.

Time

(Saturday) 10:00 am - 7:00 pm

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14jun6:00 am8:00 amDurham University

12junAll Day“Mean Tweets party”

11jun2:00 pm4:00 pmOxford Forum's Panel Discussion: Islam and Feminism

04junAll DayReason Rally in Washington DC

17may7:00 pm9:00 pmNewcastle University Atheists & Secular Humanists, Newcastle

11may7:00 pm9:00 pmChiltern Humanists, Amersham

04may7:00 pm9:00 pmUniversity of Hull Atheist Society, Hull

30apr11:30 am5:30 pm30 April: Day Conference on Sharia Law, Legal Pluralism and Access to Justice

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Event Details

Poster - Sharia Law White
Day Conference on Sharia Law, Legal Pluralism and Access to Justice
30 April 2016
11:30am-5:30pm
Central London, near Kings Cross Station

Elham Manea will present the findings of her new book Women And Sharia Law: The Impact Of Legal Pluralism In The UK. Women’s rights groups that led successful campaigns preventing public authorities such as the governing body of UK Universities and the Law Society from incorporating aspects of Sharia laws into their public policies will further present their case against Sharia courts and the Beth Din, legal aid cuts, and the denial of access to equality and human rights.

Speakers include:

Diana Nammi, Director of Iranian Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation
Elham Manea, Author of Women And Sharia Law: The Impact Of Legal Pluralism In The UK
Gita Sahgal, Director of Centre for Secular Space
Pragna Patel, Director of Southall Black Sisters
Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson of One Law for All and Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
Nareen Rehman, Co-Founder and Chair of British Muslims for Secular Democracy
Yasmin Rehman, Women’s Rights Campaigner

Tickets cost: £20 (organisations and statutory bodies); £10 (waged); £5 (unwaged). No tickets will be sold at the door. To register for the event, please post your name and telephone number with a cheque made payable to One Law for All to BM Box 2387, London WC1N 3XX, UK. You can also purchase tickets on Eventbrite. The event location will be sent to those who purchase tickets.

For any questions or to register, please email onelawforall@gmail.com.

SCHEDULE

11:00-11:30am Registration with tea/coffee

11:30-11:40am Opening with MC Rayhana Sultan, Spokesperson of Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain

11:40-1:10pm Elham Manea, Academic and Author of “Women And Sharia Law: The Impact Of Legal Pluralism In The UK”

1:10-2:30pm Lunch (on your own)

2:30-3:00pm Tea/Coffee Break

3:00-3:15pm Comedy by Kate Smurthwaite

3:15-5:15pm Panel Discussion with Diana Nammi, Director of Iranian Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation; Gita Sahgal, Director of Centre for Secular Space; Pragna Patel, Director of Southall Black Sisters; Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson of One Law for All and Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain; Nasreen Rehman, Co-Founder of British Muslims for Secular Democracy and Yasmin Rehman, Women’s Rights Campaigner. Panel Chair: Women’s Rights Activist Gina Khan.

5:15-5:30pm Next Steps and Closing

BIOGRAPHIES

Diana Nammi is the Director of Iranian Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation, which she founded in 2002 to provide advice, advocacy, training and counselling to women and girls from Middle Eastern and North African communities affected by so called “honour” based violence, including forced marriage and Female Genital Mutilation as well as domestic violence. In 2012 she was named in a list of 150 women who shake the world by Newsweek and The Daily Beast. In 2014 she received the Special Jury Women on the Move Award from UNHCR, The Forum and Migrants Rights Network, she was honoured with the Woman of the Year Award and was recognised as one of BBC’s 100 Women. In 2015 she won the Women of Courage Award from the Women’s Refugee Commission in New York, the XX1 Premis Ones Mediterrania Award in Spain and the Red Woman of the Year Community and Charity Award.

Elham Manea is an Associate Professor specialised on the Middle East, a writer, and a human rights activist. She is a Fulbright scholar who holds a PhD degree in political science from the University of Zurich, Master degree in comparative politics from the American University in Washington D.C, and a Bachelor degree in political science from Kuwait University. She has published several academic and non-fiction books including The Arab State and Women’s Rights: The Trap of Authoritarian Governance. She works at the Political Science Institute at the University of Zurich and a consultant for Swiss government agencies and international human rights organizations. Recently, she has been appointed by the Swiss Federal Council as a Member of the Federal Commission for Women Affairs. Her concept of humanistic Islam was first published in a series of articles in Arabic. Her most recent book is: Women And Sharia Law: The Impact Of Legal Pluralism In The UK.

Gina Khan was born in Birmingham to Pakistani Muslim parents. Gina is a Human Rights activist and researcher. Personal experiences prompted Gina to break her silence in 2005 by speaking out in radio debates and writing to local Birmingham newspapers following a traumatic divorce and experience of living as a lone woman and parent in Birmingham. Gina focuses on two main subjects; the rise of pro-jihad ideologies within Muslim communities and the position and status of women within those communities. Gina believes these two twin phenomena to be symptomatic of deeper problems. After speaking out against Jihadism in Birmingham, Gina and her children were forced to leave her home after it was attacked.

Gita Sahgal is a writer, journalist, film-maker and rights activist. She is currently Founder and Director of Centre for Secular Space. She was formerly Head of the Gender Unit at Amnesty International; she was suspended in 2010 after she was quoted criticizing Amnesty for its high-profile associations with the Islamist Moazzam Begg, the director of a campaign group called Cageprisoners. For many years she served on the board of Southall Black Sisters and was a founder of Women Against Fundamentalism and Awaaz : South Asia Watch. With Nira Yival Davis, she edited Refusing Holy Orders: Women and Fundamentalism in Britain (London, 1992). Among her articles are ‘Legislating Utopia? Violence Against Women, Identities and Interventions’ in ‘The Situated Politics of Belonging. During the 1980s, she worked for a Black current affairs programme called ‘Bandung File’ on Channel 4 TV. She made two films about the Rushdie affair, ‘Hullaballoo Over Satanic Verses’ and ‘Struggle or Submission’. She has also made two programmes for Dispatches Channel 4, ‘The Provoked Wife’ on the case of Kiranjit Ahluwalia and ‘The War Crimes File’ an investigation into allegations of war crimes committed by members of the Jamaat I Islami in Bangladesh in 1971.

Kate Smurthwaite is a stand-up comedian and political activist. She has appeared on more than 500 TV and radio shows including This Morning, The Big Questions, Woman’s Hour and The Moral Maze. In 2013 she won a Three Week’s Editor’s Choice Award for her show at the Edinburgh Festival. Kate is a writer for BBC Three show The Revolution Will Be Televised and is the Vice Chair of Abortion Rights UK.

Maryam Namazie is the Spokesperson for One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain and the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. She hosts a weekly television programme called Bread and Roses broadcast in Iran via New Channel TV. She is on the International Advisory Board of the Raif Badawi Foundation for Freedom; Humanist Laureate at the International Academy of Humanism, Central Committee member of the Worker-communist Party of Iran; National Secular Society Honorary Associate; Honorary Associate of Rationalist International; Emeritus Member of the Secular Humanist League of Brazil; a Patron of London Black Atheists and Pink Triangle Trust and a member of the International Advisory Board of Feminist Dissent. She was awarded Atheist of the Year by Kazimierz Lyszczynski (2014); Journalist of the Year at the Dods Women in Public Life Awards (2013); selected one of the top 45 women of the year by Elle magazine Quebec (2007); one of 2006’s most intriguing people by DNA, awarded the National Secular Society’s Secularist of the Year Award (2005), amongst others.

Nasreen Rehman is an award winning playwright and screenplay writer. She co-founded British Muslims for Secular Democracy. Nasreen believes that for far too long the British public sphere has been ceded to obscurantist voices representing their own version of Islam. BMSD is an organisation that challenges these voices and seeks to appropriate this space in order to forward a different and more enlightened face of Islam – one that is more democratic and equitable. She represents BMSD at conferences in the U.K. and Europe and engages in media debates on topics such as Islamophobia and the hijab. She also serves on the Board of Akademi, a lead organisation for South Asian dance, in Britain; and is a founder member of the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) a women’s rights movement in Pakistan. In the past, she has worked as an economist in the private sector and in development, in the U.K and in Pakistan. As director of the Mahbubul Haq Human Development Centre, in Islamabad she steered the publication of the Report on the Crises of Governance in South Asia, and helped to develop the terms of reference for the Centre’s report on Gender in the region. As trustee of the Runnymede Trust, she served on two national commissions on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, respectively.

Pragna Patel is Founder and Director of the Southall Black Sisters and Women Against Fundamentalism. SBS is, a multi-award-winning women’s organisation founded in 1979 to address the needs of black and minority women experiencing gender violence. It successfully campaigned for the release of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a landmark case in which an Asian woman was convicted of the murder of her violent husband. The case reformed homicide law, creating greater awareness within and outside minority communities. Pragna is also a co-founder of Women Against Fundamentalism. She has also written extensively on race, gender and religion, including ‘Citizenship: Whose Rights?’, ‘Faith in the State? Asian Women’s Struggles for Human Rights in the UK’, and ‘Shrinking Secular Spaces: Asian Women at the Intersect of Race, Religion and Gender’. She was listed in The Guardian’s Top 100 women: activists and campaigners.

Yasmin Rehman is a freelance consultant and doctoral candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Her area of research is polygamy and the law. She has worked for more than 20 years predominantly on violence against women, race, faith and gender, and human rights. Yasmin has worked for Local Government, the Metropolitan Police Service as Director of Partnerships and Diversity (2004-08) during which time she also held the Deputy national lead for forced marriage and honour based violence. Yasmin has most recently been commissioned as founding CEO of a race equality charity in East London, followed by Transforming Rehabilitation bid and now reviewing police responses to domestic abuse for national charities. Yasmin is currently member of the Board of EVAW (End Violence Against Women Coalition), an Independent Adviser for City of London Police and a member of the Centre for Secular Space.