UK: Baroness Cox Introduces Anti-Sharia Bill

A call for women's rights? Will the Islamophobia never end?

UNITED KINGDOM--On 7 June 2011 Baroness Cox introduced a new Bill in the House of Lords intended to outlaw the use of Sharia law where it conflicts with English law. In proposing the new Bill she said:

“Equality under the law is a core value of British justice. My Bill seeks to preserve that standard. My Bill seeks to stop parallel legal, or ‘quasi-legal’, systems taking root in our nation. Cases of criminal law and family law are matters reserved for our English courts alone.

“Through these proposals, I want to make it perfectly clear in the law that discrimination against women shall not be allowed within arbitration. I am deeply concerned about the treatment of Muslim women by Sharia Courts. We must do all that we can to make sure they are free from any coercion, intimidation or unfairness. Many women say, ‘we came to this country to escape these practices only to find the situation is worse here’.”

The Bill has arisen over concerns about the discrimination suffered by Muslim women under the Sharia system. The Bill proposes to protect women by stopping discriminatory rulings that are contrary to UK law and ensuring that Sharia law does not appear to have jurisdiction where it does not. (Read more.)

If I had to predict GreekAsianPanda's first comment, I would predict: "But what does Sharia have to do with Islam? I can't believe you're posting this, David."