Decades of hard work to achieve equality for women were undermined in cavalier style by the prime minister of our country.
The day after not attending the 9/11 memorial, PM Trudeau visited a gender-segregated mosque.
During the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha, our PM spoke to the men congregated on the main floor of the mosque, and referred to the “sisters upstairs,” the women who were sequestered on an upper balcony, peering below for a glimpse of their prime minister, as he was surrounded by the men of their congregation.
By this one single act of disrespect for women, he has taken us back to a time before 1970. The optics are clear: gender segregation is acceptable. Did he not think that the rest of the people in Canada would notice, or does he simply not care? Not all Mosques segregate women; our PM could have shown respect for the Muslim community at a mosque that practises gender equality.
Asra Nomani, author of numerous articles, including the "Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Mosque," said Trudeau and other politicians who support gender equality should refuse invitations from gender-segregated places of worship including mosques.
“They would be following the precedent of other Muslim men who are bold leaders in our community who are now refusing to go and stand at the pulpits of the mosques that segregate like that.” (David Akin, National Post, Sept. 14/16).
We can do better than this example that pushes women back ages.
Yes, we had come a long way baby, only to be set back by our own prime minister, who ironically self-identified as a feminist.
Diane Ikonen
Sudbury