Appeal-2019 About Religious schools for children – hijab for girls – circumcision of boys and UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
On January 1, 2020, the UN Children’s Convention becomes Swedish law. This is good news, however far from sufficiently good. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is unclear on a number of points (E.g. Articles 8, 11, 20, 29, 30) which allow parents’ cultural and religious practices to exert too much influence over the children.
The convention can also be interpreted in a direction that can mean support for religious schools, hijab for girls and circumcision of boys, which we see as abuse and genital mutilation. In view of these shortcomings in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, can the question be considered as a reliable tool for countering the emergence of parallel societies in Sweden and other parts of the EU as a result of demands for and the maintenance of special rights with cultural and religious characteristics?
Existing Swedish legislation, in comparison with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, constitutes a stronger protection of children, but also the deficiencies in certain religious / cultural practices affect children’s lives.
From a child’s perspective, religious schools for children, hijab for girls and circumcision of boys constitute discriminatory and oppressive acts. We believe that all parents have the right to practice their religion, but when parents use the religion as a coercive shirt on children’s lives around the clock, including in school, then you have crossed the border. Religious schools for children obstruct children’s independent, critical thinking as religions often contain ancient, prejudiced and oppressive ideas from ancient times. Religious schools do not live up to the school’s equality mission but convey a degrading and contemptuous view of women and individuals belonging to other religions. Oppressive medieval norms do not coincide with equality. Therefore, from a child rights perspective, we demand that those in power act.
Our proposals for those in power:
- A school for everyone – no to religious schools for children! The school should be based on reason, proven experience and science and not on religious dogmas. Religion belongs to private, not the public.
- Hijab is not an innocent or ordinary piece of cloth but a religious uniform that makes girls a sexual creature early in childhood. It lays the foundation for gender apartheid. Girl children wear hijab for parents to force on them or expose them to various forms of emotional and psychological pressure. Children usually do what their parents do to get love and affirmation. In any case, hijab represents an authoritarian and anti-equality hostility. In today’s political situation, representatives of society, especially politicians and representatives of the education system, should also realize that the veil is part of the Islamists’ quest for a completely gender-segregated society. Therefore, it is urgent that hijab on girl children be banned.
- Circumcision is an abuse of boys. It is a serious violation of the rights of small childless children over their body that they do not take into account. The fact that the Minister of Democracy, the Child Ombudsman, Save the Children and the Discrimination Ombudsman in Sweden keep silent or approve of this abuse on boys is an unforgivable betrayal of the vulnerable children. We argue that children’s rights come before religions and political interests. Boys are people, not objects. Let the boys decide for themselves whether they want to be circumcised or not when they are ready for such a serious and irrevocable decision, at the age of 18. Ban circumcision of boys!
Everyone who cares about children’s rights: Join and make demands on politicians that they put children’s best before religious orders with roots in the Stone Age!
Stockholm, 2019 November 11
The National Federation of Children First Now. 0046708526716
Enough is Enough
Women’s Right Association
Women’s Revolution
Women’s rights
KFKI
- Karim Shamohammadi Chairperson Children First Now
- Mina Ahadi Chairperson Enough is Enough
- Farideh Arman Chairperson Women’s Right Association
- Shirin Shams Chairperson Women’s Revolution
- Maria Rashidi Chairperson Women’s rights
- Mahin Alipour Chairperson KFKI
- Hormoz Raha ChairpersonC.A.E
- Rebecca Hybbinette dr/Author
- Soleyman Ghasemiani Author
- Devin Rexvid Social Worker
- Siamak Bahari TV Program Manager. Kodakan Moghadamand
- Sara Nakhaei Chairperson Iranian Refugee Federation
- Hasan Salehi International Committee against Execution
- Azar Poya
- Hoshiar Soroush
- Andisheh Alishahi
- Susan Saberi
- Abe Asadi
- Soudabeh kazemian
- Shirin Bahrami
- Khalil Keyvan
- Sima Bahari
- Rahim Yazdanprst
- Shaho Pirkhezerian
- Kavosh Mehran
- Naser Shishegar
- Shahnaz Asfandiari
- Nastaran Godarzi
- Hamed Jamali
- Milad Rasai manesh
- Kimia Pazoki
- Nazanin Sadeghi
- Shahla Khabazzadeh
- Golam Akbari
- Giti Aghajani
- Jamil Farzan
- Raza sarlak
- Arsalan Amjadi
- Arash yazdan
- Amir Tavakoli
- Awat Farokhi
- Biston Bigzadeh
- Hosein Hoseinnjad
- Hosein Khodaifar
- Hami Haghshenas
- Sahar Babasalji
- Said Soltanpour
- Sajad Akbari
- Sadegk Zandi
- Faramarz Ghorbani
- Kian Azar
- Mojgan Mazhar safari
- Nastaran Mansori
- Navid Olfati
- Hadi Mosavi
- Veda Ilka
- David Gafari
- Somayeh Soltanpur
- Majid Farajian
- Hamid Sajh
- Saeed Kalhor
