Past Events

Women of Color Beyond Belief Conference

ACTIVISM, FEMINISM AND SECULARISM IN ACTION!

“The Women of Color Beyond Belief Conference was created to achieve the following goals:

*To highlight the social justice work of women of color within the secular community.
*To provide an intersectional vision of women of color leadership and activism in secularism.
*To create more inclusive opportunities in secular organizing, policy and practice.
*To foster an environment of encouragement, growth, and sustainability.

Panels, presentations, workshops and performances will cover the following topics:
*Church-state separation activism
*Religion in marginalized communities
*Violence against women
*Feminism, anti-racism and racial justice action
*LGBTQI and queer rights
*Reproductive justice
*Sexual expression and liberation
*Organizing techniques and secular community building
*Secular humanist childrearing in PoC communities
*Combatting “isms” and creating safe spaces in the secular community
*Marijuana legalization and decriminalization

Follow the link to register for the event : https://wocbeyondbelief.com/

Celebrating Dissent Festival during August 31 – September 1 in Amsterdam at De Balie will be a huge and historic event with nearly 50 contributors from 30 countries worldwide coming together to celebrate freedom through theatre, talks, poetry, film and stand-up comedy.

The festival Celebrating Dissent honours freedom: freedom to think differently, freedom not to believe and freedom to be yourself.

31 AUGUST 2019

11:00: A Conversation on Women’s Dissent with Inna Shevchenko, Maryam Namazie, Taslima Nasrin and Zineb El Razoui. Music by Shelley Segal. Protest Art by Victoria Guggenheim.

14:00: Touching the Holy Subject with Nadia El Fani, Rishvin Ismath, Saif Ul Malook and Sarah Haider. Music by Veedu Vidz.

16:00: Comedy, the Sacred and Islamophobia with Shabana Rehman, Ali Rizvi and Armin Nabavi.

17:40: Public Art Protest celebrating dissenters in public square.

19:00: Separation of Religion from the State with Afsana Lachaux, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Elżbieta Podleśna, Homa Arjomand and Marieme Helie Lucas.

21:00: Women against Gods with Gita Sahgal, Houzan Mahmoud, Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, Mineke Schipper and Rana Ahmad. Performance by Atoosa Farahmand.

1 SEPTEMBER 2019

10:00: Film Screening Neither Allah Nor Master by Nadia El Fani followed by a conversation with Hind Bariaz, Ismail Mohamed, Karrar Al Asfoor, Wissam Charafeddine and Zara Kay.

12:00: Film Screening No Longer without You by Nazmiyeh Oral followed by a conversation with Cemal Knudsen Yucel, Fauzia Ilyas, Mimzy Vidz, Omar Makram, Rishvin Ismath, Sohail Ahmad and Zehra Pala.

16:00: On Identity with Kenan Malik, Harris Sultan, Jimmy Bangash, Rahila Gupta and Yasmin Rehman. Poetry by Halima Salat.

20:00: Fighting the Far-Right; Celebrating Dissent with Halima Salat, Maryam Namazie, Mohamed Hisham, Muhammed Syed, Sadia Hameed and Sami Abdallah. Music by Shelley Segal.

There will also be artwork by Mahshad Afshar and Jenny Wenhammar.

You can purchase day passes or passes for the full festival here.

You can also buy tickets for individual events or find out more information here.

Veedu and Mimzy will host Atheist activists and YouTubers from Europe and North America in their first public event.

Guest speakers include;Armin Navabi, Alex O’ Connor (Cosmic Skeptic), Maryam Namazie, Sadia Hameed, Stephen Woodford (Rationality Rules), Jimmy Bangash, Drew McCoy (GM Skeptic), Imtiaz Shams, Zara Kay.

We discuss a range of topics, take questions from the audience and most importantly play fun and interesting games to celebrate the occasion.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to speak and listen to influencers in the secular community and take part in a night of fun!

IMPORTANT NOTE
When buying a ticket please make sure to fill out your telephone number and email address to be sent the location and other details of the event.

Get tickets Here.

Tuesday 24 October 2017, 6:30pm-8:30pm, central London by Kings Cross
Evening with Peter Tatchell, Human Rights Campaigner, on the links between the gay rights and ex-Muslim rights

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:

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.

4 July 2019, 6:00pm for a 6:45pm start until 10:00pm, London

Join Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and One Law for All for an evening of film, poetry and a panel discussion on LGBT rights, Apostasy and Blasphemy.

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY. NO TICKETS SOLD AT DOOR.

Film: ‘Ferdous’ by Shakila Taranum Maan

Poetry: By Kenyan Somali Poet Halima Salat

Panel discussion: With Drew Dalton (Hidayah Chair), Jimmy Bangash (CEMB Spokesperson), Khakan Qureshi (Birmingham South Asians LGBT Founder), Nadia El Fani (Tunisian Filmmaker), Sadia Hameed (CEMB Spokesperson), Shakila Taranum Maan (British Director) and Syed Isteak Hossain Shawon (Bangladeshi LGBT activist and Editor of Boys Love World). Facilitated by Maryam Namazie (CEMB and One Law for All Spokesperson)

Nahla Mahmoud will be the MC of the evening.

Tickets are £5 waged; £3 unwaged. No tickets sold at the door. Venue will be disclosed to ticket holders a few days before the event.

For more information, please contact m.namazie@ex-muslim.org.uk.

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

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.

Sat 6 April, 2.15pm | Rich Mix, London

Screening of Brick Lane

In Association with Southall Black Sisters

Brick Lane picks up on some of these themes of defiant sexuality and secular identities in the face of rising fundamentalism. It focuses on a newly arrived migrant woman from Bangladesh whose nostalgia for home is compounded by an unsatisfactory relationship with her husband. She is driven into an affair with a young man who responds to the racism of white youth in Tower Hamlets by embracing religious fundamentalism.

Followed by a panel discussion on Subversion and Dissent

Chaired by: Samira Ahmed

Guest speakers: Sukhwant Dhaliwal, Geeta Sahgal, Rashmi Varma, Maryam Namazie and Monica Ali.

Venue: Rich Mixa, London
Sat 6 April, 2.15pm
Ticket Price: £10.95

BOOK NOW

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.

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

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/

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.

22 January 2019, University of Warwick
Warwick for Free Speech and Human Rights on Free Speech, Religion and Gender Equality

Warwick for Free Speech and Human Rights at the University of Warwick is organising an event to tackle the issue of Free Speech and Gender Equality in Religious as well as Secular countries / politics / governments.

Maryam Namazie will be speaking about Iran and secularism. She will be speaking about her campaigns targeted at fighting Islamist extremists and patriarchal norms in Iran and in the UK.

Steven Kettell, an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick, in the department of Politics and International Studies. He is a specialist in the politics of secularism, non-religion and the role of religion in the public sphere.

LGBT & Secular Rights At Risk: A Bangladesh Perspective
20 January 2019, Conway Hall
12:00-5:00pm

Human Rights are at risk in Bangladesh. Especially, the rights of the LGBT+ community and the secular community are the most vulnerable. We want to speak on behalf of these communities and raise our voice. We want to defend their rights. We want to reach towards the wider communities and gain support through this conference.

Speakers: Maryam Namazie, Gita Sahgal, Sadia Hameed, Lizzie Streeter, Hsien Chew, Henna Khanom, Sadikur Rahman Rana, Jimi Bangash, Daniel Fitzgerald, Mediah Ahmed, Bonya Ahmed, Jamie Jane, Riaz Osmani, Asif Mohiuddin, Simon Ware.

More information can be found on Facebook event page.

Get free tickets here.

The panel will focus on the rise of religious fundamentalism(s) in Europe, Africa and Middle East, its relation with the concurrent rise of (neo)liberal ideologies and their combined impact on the rights of women & ethnic minorities. From the attack on women’s sexual-reproductive autonomy and re-establishment of “traditional values” by the Catholic, Christian Orthodox and Islamic ideologues, to the appropriation of the feminist language & struggle, we will explore how the two seemingly mutually exclusive movements – one of “tradition” and the other of “modernity”, in fact, work hand in hand, to roll back the universal rights, liberties of women and minority groups.

Book your tickets at: https://filia.org.uk/tickets/

This black history month, an all-female team are taking over Park90 with a powerful production, Bullet Hole.

Young Londoner Cleo was given her ‘gift’ at age seven – except that ‘gift’ left her with type 3 Female Genital Mutilation.

How can Cleo love her body, when her husband brutally sexually assaults her? Finding strength after this hideous act, Cleo resolves to go against her family’s wishes and seek reversal surgery. On her journey of healing, she meets Eve, a fellow FGM survivor who is instantly drawn to her…

A story of hope, love and human rights played by an all-female cast.

Shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Audience Award 2017.

This performance is sponsored by the CEMB.

https://www.parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/bullet-hole

Festival of Reason & Freethought 2018 (For Ex-Believers & Non-Believers) – 11th August 

This event is a celebration of Reason and Freethought. The aim is for people of the ex-believing, non-believing and freethinking world to get together and celebrate Atheism, Humanism, free-thought, reason, scepticism and Enlightenment values. A time to contemplate being an ex-believer or a non-believer in a world that is still predominantly superstitious.

Speakers:

Clive Aruede – an African Ex-Christian and Founder of London Black Atheists

Andrew Copson – Chief Executive, Humanists UK

A C Grayling – Professor of Philosophy

Imtiaz Shams – of Faith to Faithless

Jimmy Bangash – LGBT Ex-Muslim of The CEMB: Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain

Sadia Hameed – Spokesperson for The CEMB: Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain

Stells Dessoy – an Ex-Catholic and a Humanist

Terri O’Sullivan – an Ex-Jehovah’s Witness

Ste Richardsson – an LGBT Ex-Jehovah’s Witness

Imad Iddine Habib – a Black African Ex-Muslim

Mwahamadu – a Black Caribbean Ex-Muslim, leading the masked members of London Black Atheists, (masked due to fear of being ‘outed’ as atheists).

MCs:

Tavian Oladapo – an African Ex-Christian

Ste Richardsson – an LGBT Ex-Jehovah’s Witness

(NOTE: Red Lion Square Gardens is opposite Conway Hall: nearest station, Holborn)

Get your tickets now at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/festival-of-reason-freethought-2018-for-ex-believers-non-believers-tickets-48015662138