Press Release
We do not accept Violence against Women or by a Document Renouncing Violence against Women!

After a long debate and anticipation, United Nations published on 19/03/2013 on its official website the final text of a document renouncing violence against women. This is not new, as may be described by some, but is to activate the 1994 agreement to renounce violence against women that was signed by the existing regimes in the Islamic world since years ago. The Member States coincided on the final text of the Convention on 15/03/2013, after lengthy discussions between the delegations of the States and an approximation of the views that have reached the final version under the supervision of the Commission on the Status of Women. The latter is a technical committee that monitors global policies on women, and meets annually to assess the progress made by States in achieving gender equality and women's empowerment. The committee is also responsible to follow up and to activate the UN conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the Beijing Platform for Action, and Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development.

This Agreement preceded by thoughtful and effective media campaign around the world to show that violence against women is the biggest problem in the world, and crimes related to honor remarkably topped local and global media. Let alone the successive reports on the enormity of the situation that has made one feel the problem as the world's first priority. This was followed by a billionth woman march against violence and then adopting the slogan: "a promise is a promise, ending violence against women" as a slogan for International Women's Day. When some Muslims who are jealous for their religion stood up and showed their rejection of this agreement, they were showered by accusations of being anti-women and being backward, how dare people to reject the document to protect women from violence as if this document and those who met are the protectors of women and impregnable fortress!!  We have witnessed a campaign of terror and intellectual monopoly of opinion without a clear argument of those who claim to intellectual liberalism and pluralism. This reminded us of those who say that the refusal to make peace with the Jewish occupation entity is an absolute refusal of peace and an invitation to violence. The purpose of the title of the document and the method put forward is to limit views and prevent the dispute while maintaining a style characterized by soft dismantling of other civilization. Convention did not differ from the million woman march against violence.

Hence we see that everyone gasping behind the majority rather than having a principled stance that is serious and sincere to address the underlying causes of the problem. No one wondered on the feasibility of a UN debate on the problem of violence against women among peoples of diverse ideologies and cultures, never heard about global medical gathering to address the symptoms and neglect the real causes! What consensus is expected between those who adhere to the provisions of the Almighty Shariah Laws and those with changing standards and humiliated followers of their own whims?

This document, although being a moral obligation non-binding to those who signed it, is very dangerous and seeks to re-shape the thinking and culture of people to promote certain concepts and attract communities to the compromise zone so as to dilute the ideological, intellectual and cultural differences between countries. Their goal in this is not to protect women, since women in the countries that apply what they call the liberal progressive thought are worse off than others and suffer woes and this is clearly evident in their reports. Here we wonder if they have the cure, why not take the initiative to use and treat their spoiled capitalist civilization!

The purpose is to spread their materialistic view of women and globalizing the erroneous idea about violence against women so that corruption and its inevitable outcome prevail, in other words "she threw me with her disease, then she sneaked."  Violence in the western countries, which reached alarming rates, must be matched by other types of violence in the world as they defined. This is apparent in the adoption of what they called a more comprehensive definition of violence against women, as reflected in the final document in Item 10. "The Commission affirms that violence against women and girls is rooted in historical and structural inequality in power relations between women and men, and persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of the enjoyment of human rights. Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that seriously violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women and girls of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Violence against women and girls is characterized by the use and abuse of power and control in public and private spheres, and is intrinsically linked with gender stereotypes that underlie and perpetuate such violence, as well as other factors that can increase women's and girls' vulnerability to such violence." This document was produced to hide the real aims behind the loose cloak of the so-called violence against women, quite contrary meaning that comes to mind. They even categorized advancing males to females in serving food in some communities as a form of discrimination based on their vision and they see it as violence directed against women. As well as they defined discrimination of males to females in education as violence directed against girls and thus a girl deprived from education is considered a victim and may reach a criminal case (at least in theory to the International Criminal Court). In the same vein, full equality denies alleged Muslim women of their rights that have been characterized for her by the Shariah. Such as cases in which women have a higher share in inheritance and alimony and dowry. As well as her right to be protected by men, as Islam considers her honor that must be protected, and other legal provisions which the Almighty Creator of the women has defied for her. Do we call looting rights liberal! Or incriminate what Almighty Allah has prescribed and go backward and lose both realms - God forbid!!

This document harbor hostility to man and considers him the offender and the woman is the victim and this is contrary to the reality and to human's nature "fitrah". What type of security and stability they wish to provide to women by alienating men and criminalization of the son and the father, brother and husband!! This full bias for women and viewing of men as the center of evil is a backward ideology and a reaction to Western cultural heritage that condemned woman and demonized her all that is negative. This deficient and limited view will not do justice to women and does not care to the maintenance and preservation of the family, this kind of discrimination is contrary to the concept of justice and calling it equality is a lie and fraud. Also, the way they address the subject reduces violence in the narrow family framework and ignores State terrorism and bombing innocent civilians indiscriminately with unmanned aircraft and who are most often women and children. They talk about domestic violence and ignore the failure of the international system in facing ethnic cleansing and rape of women as a tool of war in Bosnia, Congo, Myanmar and Syria.

This document is calling to develop legislation to conform to the idea of non-violence according to their definition and consistent with the above covenants and agreements and compatible with human rights and personal freedoms, regardless of the adoption of people of these ideas. It calls to specify a minimum age for marriage and called for considering the sexual and reproductive rights as human rights and the provision of contraceptive methods and training for teens as a way to prevent early pregnancy and preventing disease. It also urged to intervene in the educational curricula and introduction of sex education in order to change social and cultural considerations as provided herein. The document urged all States to lift its reservations to CEDAW and other agreements. The Western countries and some countries such as South Africa and Brazil have ceded on the items on the rights of homosexuals and abortion-related issues, while the Muslim delegations ceded the essence of Islam and its system in life through banal negotiations that is not appropriate for a Muslim to wage. Instead they justify their ugly actions by claiming that they have received some concessions and insisted on introducing the idea of cultural specificity. Whatever this vague privacy they flaunt, can it be compared in any way to the great ideology accomplished by the creator of the universe and humans that prevailed in the world and submitted to its rules?

The crime of the Muslim rulers in the signing of this agreement is great, and what happened is very gravely missed. They did not have the excuse, for they were not forced or compelled to do so. Worse than that is that they did not do it out of ignorance, but they were fully aware of it.  The United Nations has published in its website on 20/03/2013 the Conference Preparatory report that was more detailed and comprehensive than the final document. Despite of that, Muslim delegations participated in the discussions of marketing these bankrupted concepts and things Muslim toungue avert to mention, no strength except in God (لاحول ولا قوة إلا بالله). Even after going they did not offer Islam and its views in life and how Islam and nothing else is to cure what ails humanity. Some of them did not even mention it or bring its topic. How women to be abused and Messenger of Allah peace be upon him says: "رفقاً بالقوارير" "Be kind to your womenfolk" and recommends well care for women and angers for the killing and harming of women of its enemy in case of war.

Oh you who put the great Islam in the same frame with the man-made systems that are unjust for humans and unfounded pagan legacies, know that Allah honored us by Islam, how then we dare to put the religion of our Lord in this place! For evil is what they were doing.

(وَاللّهُ يُرِيدُ أَن يَتُوبَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَيُرِيدُ الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الشَّهَوَاتِ أَن تَمِيلُواْ مَيْلاً عَظِيمًا)

"Allah wants to accept your repentance, but those who follow [their] passions want you to digress [into] a great deviation." [An-Nisa: 27]

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Member of the Central Media Office
of Hizb ut Tahrir