The founder of the first liberal mosque and women’s rights activist Seyran Ateş called for “absolute equality” in her key note to the European Tolerance Talks in Carinthia. “Equal rights without changing roles and at eye level for all people: this goal should drive us all to finally achieve a fair society,” said the well-known lawyer and feminist from Berlin on Thursday in Fresach. Unequal treatment always leads to discrimination and oppression. No other topic reinforces and consolidates parallel societies like the defense and rejection of equality, said Ateş. Equal rights are also the main reason why Islamists, Islamist heads of government and royal families are defending themselves against so-called “Westernization” and are still fighting the introduction of democracy to this day. However, gender equality is anything but a “western invention”. All over the world, in all cultures and religions, women fight for the same cause – to be free and to be equal to men in all rights and duties as a citizen. More on pressetext.
