Early in February, the Canadian Muslim Women’s Institute (CMWI) hosted the Muslim Women Courage and Leadership in Manitoba Conference. The event celebrated Muslim women in leadership positions in Winnipeg while hosting panels and discussions on addressing rising rates of Islamophobia in Canada.
The event was incredibly well received, explains Executive Director Eve Sotiriadou. Now that they’ve had time to process input and suggestions, they turn their attention to bringing the conference to other cities across Canada.
“I think the event in Winnipeg worked really well in terms of themes and structure. It explored different fields, and we’re considering how to refine it for future events. One thing we’d like to incorporate more is dedicated debriefing and conversation time for the community.
With plans already underway, CMWI is currently organizing an upcoming conference in Alberta. The approach remains community-driven, ensuring local women play a role in shaping the event.
“We are working closely with local communities to set up the next conference would know better who the right people are to highlight. So that’s the approach we are taking.”
One of the key discussions at the conference was the rise in Islamophobia across Canada. Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, spoke at the event and highlighted the urgent need for action.
“Canada has the unfortunate distinction of experiencing the highest number of deadly attacks against Muslims among G7 countries. The most recent data on hate crimes from 2023 shows a 94 per cent increase in incidents targeting Muslims, according to Statistics Canada.”
However, she emphasized that hate crime statistics often underrepresent the true scope of the issue, as many victims do not report incidents to police.
“According to surveys done by Statistics Canada on that issue. Also, we know that people can be identifiable as Muslim when they’re not even Muslim and, or targeted for being Arab or from other cultures that appear to be, again, Muslims. So, that’s not necessarily reflected in the data. We saw an increase in hate crimes targeting Arabs and West Asians in 2023 as well. Over 50 per cent increase there. So those are sort of some initial kind of numbers that give us a sense that things, you know, are certainly not, not going well, per se, when it comes to hate crimes.”
Sotiriadou believes as many Muslim communities face heightened discrimination, elevating the voices of Muslim women in leadership serves as a powerful counterforce to division and hate.
“We do things that are not always highlighted or celebrated. But, with this particular event, I felt that, it was an opportunity to highlight how Muslim women are excelling in different fields or contributing to the community. They’re contributing, furthering human rights in our country. So I sort of wanting to highlight that diversity and also the fact that we are all looking so different, we’re all coming from so many different parts of the world, different identities, different experiences. And yet we have, a lot of commonalities ranging from our faith to our commitment towards human rights in Canada.”
With Alberta on the stage for the next Muslim Women’s Courage and Leadership Conference, CMWI is looking to best have these conversations of empowerment, solidarity, and positive change in other provinces.
– Ryan Funk, U Multicultural
