Press Release
The 5th International Women and Justice Summit Serves CEDAW

On November 4-5, 2022 in Istanbul, the “5th International Women and Justice Summit” was held, with the opening speech by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was organised by the women's advocacy group, the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM) together with the Family and Social Services Ministry. The final declaration of the summit emphasized the necessity of a strong family for a strong society. This year's summit, whose main theme is “Cultural Codes and Women”, contains deception which lies in every sentence from the beginning to the final declaration. This title is actually within the scope of one of the main articles of CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), "The Elimination of Prejudice and Traditions", and it is obvious that it serves the colonial global culture. The declaration stated that along with modernisation “the implementation of a single cultural code for all the women of the world is an imposition that should be challenged and contested” explaining that “Opposing this imposition does not mean negligence of the unifying and inclusive aspect of culture, but rather questioning the norms and codes that cause injustice, inequality and discrimination.”

It is necessary to evaluate a few points that have been expressed throughout the event:

1.“Women, especially those living in countries with a colonial past and a dominant culture imposed on the population, face the pressure of cultural codes”

Before the colonialists entered our lands, the Islamic culture gave Muslim and non-Muslim women a taste of freedom that women in the West cannot enjoy even today. In Islamic culture, the number and achievements gained by women in knowledge, science, and politics does not even fit into encyclopaedias. Moreover, we can’t speak of a “colonial past”, for colonialism in Muslim lands has not ended, it has only changed shape. Now Muslim women are being oppressed under a “cultural occupation”, which is more insidious and more dangerous than military occupation, and under the imposition of minds polluted by this “cultural” occupation!

2.“In many countries, women face discrimination due to their faith.”

This sentence is how minds poisoned by cultural occupation are discriminating against their own religious sisters. Because Muslim women do not experience this discrimination under Islamic rule, but under the religious and cultural oppression in the West and the puppet and pawn regimes of the West! It is them, who rob Muslim women of their homelands, their homes, properties, lives and their cultural values and beliefs!

3.“Women should not abstain from taking up jobs viewed as predominantly a man’s job.”

While even men themselves face exploitation in employment, what else can you offer but to crush women in the wheels of the exploitative capitalist labour world at the expense of depriving women of their motherhood and children of their mothers? However, under the domination of Islamic culture and the Islamic economic system, a woman could do any job and perform any profession she wanted as permitted by the Shariah.

4.You also said, “Legal infrastructure provides great protection for women regardless of the ruling power; so, a constitution that does not deviate from the axis of justice is the guarantee of women's rights.”

O KADEM and its like-minded associates! No doubt, as your name suggests, you are seeking solutions in democracy and the Western culture. Therefore, you only work in the interests of the current system. You openly implied that “Islam does not produce solutions to the problems of the modern world” and you declared to prefer the colonialist and man-made Istanbul Convention, CEDAW, Beijing Declaration, and laws based on these. You resisted when Türkiye decided to bounce the Istanbul Convention in 2021 by vowing an “Ankara Convention instead”. You defend the Law No. 6284, which destroys families, and the Civil Code that paves the way for domestic violence and decriminalizes adultery. You brought an action against Muslims, who speak against the falsehood of your ideas. So how can you speak about justice?

The political views and stance of Muslim women demanding an Islamic life contradicts your understanding of empowerment, thus you remain silent against the persecution they face. You have proven time and time again that you prefer the codes of democracy and feminism. Why don't you defend the rights of women in Türkiye, when they get arrested for calling “Establish the Khilafah, O Muslims”, like other women across the world do, or those who face legal prosecution for teaching with a chador, or are subjected to arbitrary nude search in prisons, or those whose husbands are jailed for up to 8 years due to early marriage?

We Muslim women do not need you, nor your organizations nor your summits. Just stand out of our sun! When the Second Khilafah Rashidah (Caliphate) upon the Method of Prophethood is established very soon, as promised by Allah Subhanahu and Ta'ala, both Muslim and non-Muslim women will enjoy their full rights; they will live in tranquility and safety in family and society. And they will have a real impact in politics unlike some, who are just the dust under someone's feet. Then, we the Muslim women, will reshape the world empowered with the dignity and honour of a distinguished culture - Islam.

Women’s Section
in The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir