In Turkey, speaking out against child marriage and other practices has become a criminal offense; in the West, those non-Muslims who do so are often branded as racist bigots. Leftist intellectuals and progressives, despite their professed devotion to women’s rights, are either silent on the subject or have made themselves into apologists for Islam. Uzay Bulut writes:
To make a positive change in Muslim countries, we need to be able to speak openly and tell the (too-often criminalized) truth about what Islamic teachings and traditions actually contain. Yet in Muslim countries, it is impossible to speak openly about what is in these Islamic teachings and traditions without putting one’s life at risk.
There is a situation even more frightening. It now seems to be difficult to speak openly about fundamentalist Islam even in Western countries, in part thanks to the dangerous enchantment of Western progressives and feminists who romanticize Islamism. Women in the Muslim world desperately need the voice of Western progressives and feminists. But when it comes to finding excuses to neutralize critical questions about Islamic violence, Western progressives seem endlessly creative.
More about: Leftism, Political correctness, Turkey, Women in Islam