Women In action

Today we had the core meeting of the Shia Muslim womens network at my house. It has been set up quite recently and name could soon change!! Basically its an all womens group and it was created by my mother and a few other active women.

I think its a really good idea because unfortunately in the Muslim community we have so few women who are willing to speak up and make their voices heard. The media portrays us as being 'oppressed' but I would say that the women that have the ability to speak up are not enough to make a difference and the women who do not simply are not willing to participate due to many many reasons, cultural and literacy issues being the two most important!
This group basically is aimed at trying to empower women, to let them know exactly what role they play and what further they need to do to make an impact on society. 50% percent of the population are women however we live in world dominated by men. Someone once told me "no one will give you your rights at ease you have to fight for them".

Some men bully their wives into thinking that they cannot change anything and stop them from being active and taking charge of their lives and the women feeling helpless cannot change this through educating women about the real difference they can make not only to themselves but to others would be a great achievement!

The picture shows our last meeting in which we had around 20 attendees. I was the minute taker although I haven't actually finished typing them yet!!!! And personally being the young one out of them I see it as a learning experience and as a way of understanding the needs of women.