Women – not children – first…

The British government is committing GBP 70 million to bolster the confidence of Muslim women, in an effort to shield them from becoming targets of radicalization. Hazel Blears, Communities Secretary in the Brown government announced that the funds would go toward supporting “assertiveness” training, communication and mediation skills. The courses are part of a wider initiative to get members of the Muslim community to actively participate in public life. Officials hope that empowering women will lead to increased visibility of positive role models while insulating a vulnerable part of the community against radical rhetoric and extremist tendancies. Mentoring programs, leadership training and management skills are to show women alternatives to their more traditional role within the Muslim social construct, government representatives hope. They argue that this new initiative reflects a growing desire by Muslim women to play a greater role in British society and to work toward changing the generalized suspicions that remain following terrorist activity in the country.

Muslim groups, meanwhile, are accusing the government of dividing the community. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “The government at first wanted our imams to act as spies on young British Muslims and now they seem to want Muslim women to do the same.”

German newsmagazine, Der Spiegel, suggests that the government decision in favor of additional funds for adult education comes in response to two widely-publicized cases of differential treatment of Muslim women by the authorities. Aisha Azmi, 24, was fired from her job as an elementary school teacher after refusing to remove her headscarf. School officials had argued that children could not learn the English language from a teacher with a veiled face. Azmi's lawyer has taken the case to the European Court of Human Rights. Samina Malik, meanwhile, branded herself as an “lyrical terrorist” was the first woman to be convicted under the controversial UK Terrorism Act. Supporters have criticised the verdict, based on contacts she had and internet poetry posted to radical web pages as a “wrong signal to Muslims” demonstrating that a judicial double standard is at work in the UK.

For more on this story, see the BBC, The Telegraph and The Times.