so on my way here the passenger next to
me and I had a very interesting
conversation during my flight he told me
it seems like the United States has run
out of jobs because they're just making
some up cat psychologist Dog Whisperer
tornado chaser a couple of seconds later
he asked me so what do you do and I was
like peace builder every day I work to
amplify the voices of women and to
highlight their experiences and their
participation and peace processes and
conflict resolution and because of my
work I recognize that the only way to
ensure the full participation of women
globally is by reclaiming religion now
this matter is vitally important to me
as a young Muslim woman I am very proud
of my faith it gives me the strength and
conviction to do my work every day it's
the reason I can be here in front of you
but I can't overlook the damage that has
been done in the name of religion not
just my own but all of the world's major
faiths the misrepresentation and misuse
and manipulation of religious Scripture
has influenced our social and cultural
norms our laws our daily lives to a
point where we sometimes don't recognize
it my parents moved from Libya North
Africa to Canada in the early 1980s and
I am the middle child of 11 children yes
11 but growing up I saw my parents both
religiously devout and spiritual people
pray and praise God for their blessings
namely me of course but among others
they were kind and funny and patient
limitlessly patient the kind of patients
that having 11 kids forces you to have
and they were fair I was never subjected
to religion through a cultural lens I
was treated the same the same was
expected of me I was never taught that
God judged differently based on gender
and my parents understanding of God is a
merciful and beneficial friend and
provider shaped the way I looked at the
world now of course my upbringing had
additional benefits being one of eleven
children is diplomacy 101 to this day
I'm asked where I went to school like
did you go to a Kennedy School of
Government or and I look at the one I'm
like no I went to the Madaba
School of International Affairs it's
extremely exclusive you would have to
talk to my mom to get in lucky for you
she's here so but being one of eleven
children and having ten siblings teaches
you a lot about power structures and
alliances it teaches you focus you have
to talk fast or say less because you
will always get cut off it teaches you
the importance of messaging you have to
ask questions in the right way to get
the answers you know you want and you
have to say no in the right way to keep
the peace but the most important lesson
I learned growing up was the importance
of being at the table when my mom's
favorite lamp broke I had to be there
when she was trying to find out how and
by who because I had to defend myself
because if you're not then the finger is
pointed at you and before you know it
you will be grounded I am NOT speaking
from experience of course when I was 15
in 2005 I completed high school and I
moved from Canada Saskatoon to Zoey
my pair
hometown in Libya a very traditional
City mind you I had only ever been to
Libya before on vacation and as a
seven-year-old girl it was magic it was
ice cream and trips to the beach and
really excited relatives turns out it's
not the same as a 15 year old young lady
I very quickly became introduced to the
cultural aspect of religion the words
haram meaning religiously prohibited and
i Abe meaning culturally inappropriate
were exchanged carelessly as if they
meant the same thing and have the same
consequences and I found myself in
conversation after conversation with
classmates and colleagues professors
friends even relatives beginning to
question my own role and my own
aspirations and even with the foundation
my parents had provided for me I found
myself questioning the role of women in
my faith so at the Madaba School of
International Affairs we go very heavy
on the debate and rule number one is do
your research so that's what I did and
it surprised me how easy it was to find
women in my faith who were leaders who
were innovative who were strong
politically economically even militarily
Khadijah Davila hell I'm have financed
the Islamic movement in its infancy we
wouldn't be here if it weren't for her
so why weren't we learning about her why
weren't we learning about these women
why were women being relegated to
positions which predated the teachings
of our faith and why if we are equal in
the eyes of God are we not equal in the
eyes of men to me it all came back to
the lessons I had learned as a child the
decision-maker the person who gets to
control the message is sitting at the
table and unfortunately in
every single world faiths they are not
women religious institutions are
dominated by men and driven by male
leadership and they create policies in
their likeness and until we can change
the system entirely then we can't
realistically expect to have full
economic and political participation of
women our foundation is broken my mom
actually says you can't build a straight
house on a crooked foundation so in 2011
the Libyan Revolution broke out and my
family was on the front lines and
there's this amazing thing that happens
in war a cultural shift almost very
temporary and it was the first time that
I felt it was not only acceptable for me
to be involved but it was encouraged it
was demanded myself and other women had
a seat at the table we weren't holding
hands or a medium we were part of
decision-making
we were information sharing we were
crucial and I wanted and needed for that
change to be permanent turns out that's
not that easy it only took a few weeks
before the women that I had previously
worked with were returning back to their
previous roles and most of them were
driven by words of encouragement from
religious and political leaders most of
who's cited religious scripture as their
defense it's how they gained popular
support for their opinions so initially
I focused on the economic and political
empowerment of women I thought that
would lead to cultural and social change
and turns out it does a little but not a
lot I decided to use their defense as my
offense and I began to cite and
highlight Islamic Scripture as well in
2012 and 2013 my organization led the
single largest and most widespread
campaign in Libya we entered homes and
schools and universities even mosques we
spoke to 50,000 people directly and
hundreds of thousands more through
billboards and television commercials
radio commercials and posters and you're
probably wondering how a woman's rights
organization was able to do this in
communities which had previously opposed
our sheer existence
I used Scripture I used verses from the
Quran and sayings of the Prophet hadith
his sayings which are for example the
best of you is the best to their family
do not let your brother oppress another
for the first time Friday sermons led by
local community Imams promoted the
rights of women they discuss taboo
issues like domestic violence policies
were changed in certain communities we
actually had to go as far as saying the
international human rights declaration
which you oppose because it wasn't
written by religious scholars well those
same principles are are in our book so
really the United Nations just copied us
by changing the message we were able to
provide an alternative narrative which
promoted the rights of women in Libya
it's something that has now been
replicated internationally and while I'm
not saying it's easy believe me it's not
liberals will say you're using religion
and call you a bad conservative
conservatives will call you a lot of
colorful things I've heard everything
from your parents must be extremely
ashamed of you false they're my biggest
fans too you will not make it to your
next birthday again wrong because I did
and I remain a very strong believer that
women's rights and religion are not
mutually exclusive but we have to be at
the table we have to stop giving up our
position because by remaining silent we
allow for the continued
persecution and abuse of women worldwide
by saying that we're going to fight for
women's rights and fight extremism with
bombs and warfare we completely
local societies which need to address
these issues so that they're sustainable
it is not easy
challenging distorted religious
messaging you will have your fair share
of insult and ridicule and threats but
we have to do it we have no other option
than to reclaim the message of human
rights the principles of our faith not
for us not for the women in your
family's not for the women in this room
not even for the women out there but for
societies that would be transformed with
the participation of women and the only
way we can do that
our only option is to be and remain at
the table thank you
[Applause]
[Music]