Baroness Uddin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Uddin on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what formal mechanisms they have in place to consult Muslim women.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Government Ministers and officials regularly speak with a range of British Muslim women to seek their views on key issues. The Prime Minister hosted a Community Engagement Forum on 14 January with sixteen influential Muslim women, to discuss their role in Britain today and the importance of tackling issues of forced gender segregation, discrimination and isolation. In addition, four of the cross-Government Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group’s ten independent members are themselves Muslim women. The Group discusses a range of issues, for example, hate incidents on public transport which disproportionately affect visibly Muslim women.

My Department funds a number of projects that work with Muslim women including community based English language courses, women’s empowerment initiatives and the development of leadership and networking skills. As part of this, my officials regularly engage with the project leads, associated charities and participants on relevant issues affecting Muslim women.

My rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has commissioned Louise Casey to carry out a review on how to boost opportunity and integration in our most isolated and deprived communities. She will report on her findings in due course.