Filmmaker urges Canadians to reject Islamic law
CTV ^ | Fri. Aug. 12 2005
When Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was stabbed to death last year, the assailant pinned a note to the dead body claiming Ayaan Hirsi Ali would be next.
But she isn't cowering.
Instead, the Dutch filmmaker is in Toronto, speaking out against the implementation of traditional Islamic law, Sharia, in Canada.
"I'm here because the rights of women and the rights of Muslim women are threatened," she said.
Supporters of Sharia say Muslims have the right to live as their religion dictates. They want Canada to permit Sharia arbitration in civil disputes.
In a recent report, Marion Boyd, a former provincial cabinet minister who works as a mediator, recommended that religious law maintain a role in family arbitration as long as safeguards are built in to protect women and children.
Ontario's Attorney-General, Michael Bryant, plans to respond in the fall.
Opponents of Sharia, many of whom are Muslim women who came to Canada to escape repressive regimes, denounce the law. They say it treats women like second-class citizens.
Alia Hogben, president of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, has called Sharia family arbitration "an abuse of multiculturalism."
Her views are echoed by Hirsi Ali.
Last year, she and Van Gogh made the film, Submission, depicting the abuse of women in Islamic cultures.
Dutch Muslims criticized the film as disgraceful and even blasphemous.
Last November, Van Gogh was murdered by an Islamic extremist. The assailant, Mohammed Bouyeri, threatened to kill Hisri Ali as well.
He was sentenced to life in prison.
Hisri Ali went into hiding but has since returned to public life.
"It's telling that I, as a woman brought up in Islam, need security now. I need protection to fight for my rights."
Ever defiant, Hisri Ali has vowed to make a sequel to Submissions. |
