| February 17, 2021 |  |
Update No. 6: Australian Government must ensure Zara Kay’s safe passage out of Tanzania Update No. 6: Australian Government must ensure Zara Kay’s safe passage out of Tanzania 16 February 2021 The International Coalition of Ex-Muslims calls on the Australian Government to take immediate action to ensure Zara Kay’s safe passage from Tanzania given the serious risks to her life and safety. Despite her contact with the Australian High Commission since October 2020 out of concern for the threats against her, and again after 31 December 2020, when she was released on bail, they have not been forthcoming. An international legal team consisting of pro bono lawyers in London and Australia have now taken... Filed as: Press Releases |
| February 16, 2021 |
Embracing Blasphemy by Ali Malik, 16 February 2021 One morning after assembly we heard chanting and commotion going on outside My college gate. I made my way to out check what was happening and found my uncles with merchants from the local embroidery market announcing that someone had defiled the Quran and thrown its pages all over the market overnight. Within minutes the student union had called for a city-wide “shutters down” strike and we started marching through the bazaars and markets chanting anti-blasphemy slogans and demanding respect for the sanctity of Islam. With every turn we took, every market we marched through I witnessed panic and shopkeepers... Filed as: Press Releases |
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| February 16, 2021 |  |
#StopVirginityTest #StopVirginityTest #stopart488 #Maroc #Iran http://traditionalvirginitytest.com We fully support Mouvement Alternatif pour les Libertés Individuelles – Maroc and Ibtissame Betty Lachgar in their launch of the “Traditional Virginity Test” campaign, introducing sets of blank bed sheets that denounce and fight the demeaning ritual of ‘virginity testing’. • There is no scientific evidence of a woman’s virginity1. • A study on 36 pregnant women from 2004 showed that 34 of them still had an intact hymen2. • Only 50% of women bleed during their first intercourse3. M.A.L.I. Movement has chosen February the 14th, Valentine’s Day – a day that epitomizes love and... Filed as: Press Releases |
| January 27, 2021 |  |
Challenging World Hijab Day, 1 February Women Leaving Islam, a new film by the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, premieres on 1 February at 6pm UK time as a challenge to #WorldHijabDay and religious modesty rules. You can watch the film here. In this powerful film, six ex-Muslim women activists share their moving stories of growing up in Muslim families and Muslim-majority countries and the violence, loss and shunning they faced because of their apostasy. The women talk about everything from tearing their hijab on door handles as a child, wearing a burkini on a beach in Italy, wanting to scream their atheism in Mecca during... Filed as: Press Releases |
| January 27, 2021 |  |
Women Leaving Islam – New Film Premiere on 1 February, World Hijab Day Women Leaving Islam, a new film by CEMB, premiered on 1 February as a challenge to #WorldHijabDay and religious modesty rules. You can watch the film here. In this powerful film, six ex-Muslim women activists share their moving stories of growing up in Muslim families and Muslim-majority countries and the violence, loss and shunning they faced because of their apostasy. The women talk about everything from tearing their hijab on door handles as a child, wearing a burkini on a beach in Italy, wanting to scream their atheism in Mecca during Hajj, losing custody of a child after a husband’s... Filed as: Featured, Homepage, Press Releases, Resources |
| January 21, 2021 | |
Update no. 5: Australian Government Needs to Act to Get Zara Kay Home #JusticeForZaraKay #JusticeForZara #StandUpForZaraKay 21 January 2021 The International Coalition of Ex-Muslims and Australian secular organisations remain concerned about Zara Kay’s safety and urge the Australian government to take immediate action and intervene on her behalf so she can return home without delay. In a recent Tweet, Zara asked the Australian Foreign Minister & Minister for Women: “When are you going to talk about me @MarisePayne? I’m an Australian citizen, detained in #Tanzania. When does Australia step in to protect their own citizens? When some people in Tanzania have expressed their wishes to behead me. Where’s the justice for my false... Filed as: Press Releases |
| January 19, 2021 |  |
From the hijab to freedom, Rahila Gupta, New Humanist, 19 January 2021 From the hijab to freedom, Rahila Gupta, New Humanist, 19 January 2021 A new documentary “Women Leaving Islam”, by the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, tells the story of six women escaping the violence of Islam’s modesty culture. On World Hijab Day, 1 February, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) will premiere Women Leaving Islam online, a documentary which explores the violence and repression that Islam’s modesty culture visits upon its women. Six women from the most diverse backgrounds, from different countries in the world and different wings of Islam but now settled in Europe and Australia, talk movingly of their journey... Filed as: Media Coverage, Press Releases |
| January 13, 2021 |  |
Update 4: Facts surrounding #JusticeForZaraKay The International Coalition of Ex-Muslims has issued three statements on Zara Kay’s case, which can be found here. However, given the apparent need for additional clarification, please find the following for those with a genuine interest in the case: 1. On Zara’s initial Tweet that her police custody was related to blasphemy: On 28 December, a family member called Zara and told her to come into the Dar es-Salaam Oysterbay Police Station about her posts. After that call, Zara Tweeted that she was “going into the police station because someone reported me in for blasphemy.” Since she had recently posted the following ‘blasphemous’... Filed as: Press Releases |
| January 6, 2021 |  |
Update Number 3: Tanzania – Drop All Charges against Zara Kay Update Number 3: Tanzania – Drop All Charges against Zara Kay 6 January 2021 #JusticeForZaraKay #JusticeForZara #StandUpForZaraKay Zara Kay, an Australian citizen and founder of Faithless Hijabi, returned to Dar es-Salaam Oysterbay Police station on 5 January. Her lawyer confirmed that she was then transferred to the Immigration Department. According to local sources, she returned once more to the police station on 6 January and is awaiting a court hearing. From the original three charges against her: social media posts critical of the government (posted in May when Zara was in London, satirically addressing the handling of Covid-19 in Tanzania),... Filed as: Press Releases |
| December 31, 2020 |  |
URGENT ACTION UPDATE 2: DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST ZARA KAY 31 December 2020 #JusticeForZaraKay #JusticeForZara #StandUpForZaraKay Zara Kay, an Australian citizen and founder of Faithless Hijabi, was summoned to the Dar es-Salaam Oysterbay Police Station on 28 December 2020 and was held in police custody for 32 hours without an initial clear indication of charges. Zara is a well-known ex-Muslim and women’s rights activist. Faithless Hijabi, which she founded in 2018, supports women who have been ostracised or abused for leaving Islam. Whilst in police custody, Zara was asked about the work of her organisation and why she left Islam. Zara was bailed on 29 December 2020 and told to... Filed as: Press Releases |