In February this year (2020), the Danish Institute of Human Rights published Promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief and Gender Equality in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals: A Focus on Access to Justice, Education and Health.This report finds that the main obstacle to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in relation to FoRB and gender by the 2030 deadline is the construction of these two rights as competing and/or mutually-exclusive.
The report found that in ‘secular’ countries, gender equality was used to curtail freedom of religion and belief (FoRB). Conversely, countries that enshrine a particular religion in their law use FoRB to detract from gender equality. The report explains that gender equality and FoRB are not contradictory but complementary principles. They can only be achieved together. It offers concrete recommendations on how to reach specific SDG goals. The report envisages two roles for the media in this process:
2. Educational role – educating lawmakers, other stakeholders and ordinary people about women and gender minorities’ inherent rights, including their right to FoRB; and, demonstrating that FoRB and gender rights are not mutually exclusive;
3. Community building – realise the full potential of social media to foster democratic conversations about gender and FoRB and to build spaces for marginalised communities, such as feminists of faith spaces.
For full report, click here.