Alaa Murabit: What my religion really says about women
Alaa Murabit: Ce que ma religion dit vraiment sur les femmes
Alaa Murabit champions women’s participation in peace processes and conflict mediation. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
had a very interesting conversation
intéressante avec un passager
the United States has run out of jobs,
n'ont plus d'emplois à offrir,
tornado chaser."
pour chien, chasseur de tornades. »
the voices of women
l'ampleur à la voix des femmes
processes and conflict resolution,
de paix et de résolution de conflits,
the full participation of women globally
d'assurer la participation des femmes
est de réclamer la religion.
important to me.
I am very proud of my faith.
je suis très fière de ma foi.
to do my work every day.
d'effectuer mon travail chaque jour.
in front of you.
been done in the name of religion,
causés au nom de la religion,
of the world's major faiths.
grandes religions du monde.
and manipulation of religious scripture
des écritures religieuses
and cultural norms,
culturelles et sociales,
don't recognize it.
est parfois invisible.
North Africa, to Canada
Libye pour venir au Canada
famille de 11 enfants.
and spiritual people,
religieusement dévoués,
pour ces enfants,
(Laughter)
(rires)
et drôles, et patients,
that having 11 kids forces you to have.
de patience que 11 enfants obligent.
through a cultural lens.
religion pour des raisons culturelles.
jugeait différemment selon le sexe.
judged differently based on gender.
as a merciful and beneficial friend
ami bénéfique et miséricordieux,
I looked at the world.
façon de voir le monde.
had additional benefits.
eut d'autres avantages.
(Laughter)
un cours de diplomatie 101. (rires)
where I went to school,
quelle école j'ai fréquenté,
Kennedy School of Government?"
internationales Murabit. »
of International Affairs."
to talk to my mom to get in.
à ma mère pour y entrer.
and having 10 siblings
et avoir 10 frères et soeurs
power structures and alliances.
sur les hiérarchies et les alliances.
Il faut parler vite, ou moins,
to talk fast or say less,
of messaging.
des messages.
to get the answers you know you want,
pour obtenir les bonnes réponses,
in the right way to keep the peace.
manière afin de garder la paix.
I learned growing up
qu'on m'ait apprise
I had to be there when she was trying
s'est brisée, je devais être là quand
because I had to defend myself,
car je devais me défendre.
then the finger is pointed at you,
you will be grounded.
from experience, of course.
expérience, bien entendu.
I completed high school and I moved
j'ai terminé mes études secondaires
de mes parents en Libye,
to Libya before on vacation,
que pour les vacances,
it was magic.
c'était magique.
and really excited relatives.
et une parenté enthousiaste.
as a 15-year-old young lady.
15 ans, ce n'est pas pareil.
to the cultural aspect of religion.
avec l'aspect culturel de la religion.
meaning religiously prohibited --
les interdits de la religion,
culturally inappropriate --
and had the same consequences.
et entraînaient les mêmes conséquences.
after conversation with classmates
avec mes camarades de classe,
friends, even relatives,
mes amis, ou ma parenté,
and my own aspirations.
sur mes propres règles et aspirations.
my parents had provided for me,
parents m'avaient fournis,
the role of women in my faith.
des femmes au sein de ma religion.
of International Affairs,
internationales Murabit,
so that's what I did,
faire ses recherches, ce que j'ai fait.
à quel point c'était facile
who were leaders,
religion qui étaient des leaders,
et même militairement.
even militarily.
islamique dans ses débuts.
to positions which predated
femmes à des postes
enseignements de notre foi?
in the eyes of God,
aux yeux de Dieu,
pas égaux aux yeux des hommes?
que j'avais apprises enfant.
I had learned as a child.
who gets to control the message,
qui contrôle le message,
in every single world faith,
les religions du monde,
are dominated by men
les institutions religieuses
in their likeness,
politiques qui les supportent.
the system entirely,
pas changé le système,
voir une participation
expect to have full economic
de la part des femmes.
une maison sur une fondation brisée.
a straight house on a crooked foundation.
and my family was on the front lines.
éclaté et ma famille était au front.
that happens in war,
se produit à la guerre,
très temporaire.
je sentais que ma participation
it was not only acceptable
mais encouragée.
but it was encouraged.
had a seat at the table.
une place dans le débat.
nous partagions des informations.
We were crucial.
for that change to be permanent.
changement soit permanent.
that I had previously worked with
avec qui j'avais travaillé
to their previous roles,
rôles précédents.
by words of encouragement
encouragements
religieux et politiques,
as their defense.
for their opinions.
recevait l'appui populaire.
and political empowerment of women.
économiques et politiques des femmes.
to cultural and social change.
un changement social et culturel.
but not a lot.
un peu, mais pas beaucoup.
their defense as my offense,
leur défense comme attaque,
Islamic scripture as well.
les écritures islamiques également.
led the single largest
mon organisation a mené la campagne
campaign in Libya.
and universities, even mosques.
les écoles, les universités et mosqués.
billboards and television commercials,
via des panneaux et publicités,
a women's rights organization
pour le droit des femmes
which had previously opposed
and sayings of the Prophet,
et les paroles du prophète.
are, for example,
disent, par exemple:
to their family."
meilleur pour leur famille. »
frère oppresser autrui. »
led by local community imams
du vendredi des imams locaux
like domestic violence.
comme la violence domestique.
we actually had to go as far
il fallait aller aussi loin que de dire:
Human Rights Declaration,
des droits de l'homme
written by religious scholars,
parce qu'elle n'est pas religieuse,
are in our book.
sont dans notre livre sacré.
just copied us.
we were able to provide
on réussissait à produire
the rights of women in Libya.
les droits des femmes en Libye.
been replicated internationally,
reproduit à l'échelle internationale.
believe me, it's not.
Croyez-moi, ce ne l'est pas.
and call you a bad conservative.
conservateur car on utilise la religion.
a lot of colorful things.
d'une panoplie de noms.
must be extremely ashamed of you" --
« vos parents doivent avoir honte »,
to your next birthday" --
que les droits des femmes
and religion are not mutually exclusive.
mutuellement exclusifs.
because by remaining silent,
car en restant silencieux,
and abuse of women worldwide.
continuer partout dans le monde.
to fight for women's rights
battre pour leurs droits
with bombs and warfare,
avec des bombes et des guerres,
which need to address these issues
qui doivent affronter ces problèmes
distorted religious messaging.
des doctrines religieuses biaisées.
of insults and ridicule and threats.
the message of human rights,
rétablir le message des droits humains,
the women in your families,
les femmes de nos familles,
that would be transformed
seraient transformées
prendre part au débat.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alaa Murabit - Peace expertAlaa Murabit champions women’s participation in peace processes and conflict mediation.
Why you should listen
Alaa Murabit's family moved from Canada to Libya when she was 15. Brought up in a Muslim household where she was equal to her brothers, she was shocked to see how women were viewed and treated in her new country. She enrolled in medical school, but felt frustrated by the gender discrimination she experienced.
During her fifth year in med school, the Libyan Revolution broke out. Murabit was invigorated by how women were embraced as decision-makers in the movement. She founded The Voice of Libyan Women (VLW) to focus on challenging societal and cultural norms to make that the case all the time. Many VLW programs -- like the Noor Campaign, which uses Islamic teaching to combat violence against women -- have been replicated internationally.
Murabit is an advisor to many international security boards, think tanks and organizations, including the UN Women Global Civil Society Advisory Group and Harvard’s Everywoman Everywhere Coalition. An Ashoka Fellow, Murabit was a Trust Women Hero Award Winner in 2013.
Alaa Murabit | Speaker | TED.com