Protest rises over Islamic law in Ontario

[struggle4progress]

<snip>
Until last fall, no Western jurisdiction allowed the 1,400-year-old body of religious law called sharia to take root inside its secular legal system.

Then the province of Ontario quietly approved its use. Under the 1991 Arbitration Act, sharia-based marriage, divorce and family tribunals run by the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice are expected to begin later this year. The move has so horrified many Muslim women that they're vowing to stop the tribunals before they start.
<snip>

When you come to Canada, you are a human being with full rights," says Jonathan Schrieder, a Toronto civil litigation lawyer. Allowing sharia here — even a "Canadianized" version, as its proponents claim —"will subject Muslim women to a huge injustice."
<snip>

The province is in a self-created bind by allowing religious groups to use the act in the first place, says family lawyer Todd Morganstein. "Either Ontario removes all religious groups from the act or it brings in real rules requiring them to follow fundamental principles of equality. But some cultural practices are simply not consistent with that."
<snip>

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[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Culture

that's what this is all about. Qur'an gave women more rights than any women had until the beginning of the last century.

[davidavisok]

2. trashy

my former boss was Canadian. she's nice

[cestmoi]

3. I am a very steamed Canuck. This is b.s.

Are we now supposed to allow clitoris removal? This makes me really mad. If people want culturally specific laws then they shouldn't immigrate.