The activist in favour of women’s rights witnesses at her daily work how the religious pressure on ethnic minorities is increasing, exacerbating the situation for victims of gender-based violence, who receive threats if they break their silence. (The Prisma memoirs)
Noelia Ceballos Terrén
Pragna Patel was born in Kenya in one of the many Hindu families who worked there. At the age of five, she arrived in the UK with her family in the 1960s.
She knows the meaning of growing up in an ethnic community in the UK, and that is why, at the end of her university studies, Patel became involved in the feminist movement Southall Black Sisters.
More than thirty years later, Patel is still the Director of this organisation committed to help women of any minority, who are victims of violence and discrimination.
Her experience has taught her that immigrant women in the UK run the risk of being victims twice over.
The racism of institutions is added to the religious and psychological pressure which happens in some families. These institutions instead of helping, which is their duty, harrass these women through their immigration status.
In the conversation which she had with The Prisma, Pragna Patel highlighted a worrying situation in which, she is convinced, there is more racism than there used to be.
Racism intensifies ethnic and religious tensions in the UK, as well as feeding a fundamentalism which, with the complicity of the State, is gaining ground, the Director warns.
What are the main problems that women of ethnic minorities face?
One main issue is racism. Of course there is street-level racism where you’re subjected to racial attacks or racist language.
Also institutional racism: in the education system, in the criminal justice system including the police, and the immigration system.
However, on the other hand there are issues that women face within their communities, such as gender-related violence and inequality as women. So a woman can face violence from her husband but then when she tries to report it to the police she faces racism.
Is there a particular minority which is more vulnerable than the others?
I think within minorities there are different levels of power. Minority women are generally going to be more vulnerable to violence in their family. So they can be made quite invisible and vulnerable.
What examples of racism have you found?
The ways in which a police might not respond to an Asian woman who calls the police because of violence. The police might say “Can I see your immigration passport?” The police or social services might be more interested in what her husband does for a living and then arresting him on other grounds. Also, they don’t ensure that there’s a proper interpreter present. They might allow her children to interpret, even when the child should not be involved in these things. Another way is when they might arrest the woman herself because she hasn’t got a secure immigration status. Another problem is that the police or social services might be worried about cultural and religious sensitivity and so might not wish to intervene to protect minority women and children from violence. I regard this as an inverse form of racism
Is there now more or less racism than before?
I think there’s more and we’re seeing this in the whole of Europe as there is a move towards the political right. That creates a wider climate of intolerance and blames immigration for the problems of society, for unemployment, lack of housing.
Even towards families who’ve been here for 40 years or more?
Still, we see racism. That’s not to say that some members of those minority communities are not racist to other minority communities.
We see that the more settled migrant communities are not accepting of new migrant communities for fear of losing jobs and housing, and welfare rights and other benefits are being taken over by the newly arrived migrants. These are all panics constructed by politicians who want to gain votes.
Violence against women within an ethnic minority is not racism.
No, that’s much more about the violence they face because they’re women, from marital rape to domestic violence, and other more culturally specific forms like forced marriage or female gender mutilation. Where racism comes in is when they minority women try to seek help from the State, it sometimes doesn’t protect those women. But violence against women occurs in all communities in all societies. It crosses national, ethnic and class boundaries. It’s wrong to attribute violence to culture. Culture per se is not necessarily the cause of violence, but violence can manifest differently in culturally specific ways.
So, women from ethnic minorities suffer more violence than British white women.
It’s not so much that they suffer from more violence, but they face more obstacles which make it difficult for them to speak out about this violence. They’re told that if they don’t keep silent they’re either betraying the community or fuelling racism. Because a lot of the media and politicians will say “See what Black men do to Black women”, there is reluctance for some to speak out about violence against women in minority communities.
Where does that pressure come from?
It comes from religious or community leaders, or from the family, particularly the older members. All these people put pressure on them to keep silent and not to seek help.
What kind of repression by her community can a woman face?
The pressure can be just telling her that she’s a bad woman, that if she speaks she’s betraying the community; she’s betraying her community and her tradition. But it could also be physical pressure, that “if you speak out or leave the family, we will find you and we will kill you or we will harm you”.
Do women have to break with their community and their culture to liberate themselves?
Some women yes. But they don’t break away from all aspects of their culture and identity . They criticise bits that say “It’s alright to beat a wife”. They might want to make sure that their girls have access to higher education, have careers and become independent.
But it is true that some women have to leave behind their whole family and community because they won’t accept them. It doesn’t mean the woman reject all their backgrounds but they might find themselves marginalised by the their communities..
Is there any particular culture or religion in which women are more oppressed?
No. It’s very wrong to say that there are particular religions or cultures which are worse than others. In all societies women are very much regarded as second-class citizens. But in some communities the power of religion is stronger. Because some women live in minority communities, religious leaders can be quite powerful and exert considerable control over their lives, which makes it more difficult for women to escape.
Are you familiar with the problems of Latin American women?
They face the same kind of difficulties. In fact some of the Latin American women talk about a culture of “machismo” that’s very strong, linked to Catholicism and traditional family values.
Does religion do more harm than good?
I think it does more harm than good. I’m not saying that in all religions there aren’t good people. When religion is aligned to progressive movements, like the liberation theology movement in Latin American countries, where the Church was siding with the poor, then it can be a force for good. However. in all religions there is discriminatory content around women.
Reproductive rights, abortion, birth control, sexuality. These are critical issues on which all religions discriminate.
In Western countries Islam is particularly regarded with suspicion for the place given to women. What is your experience with Muslim women?
Muslim women who come here are very clear that the problem is not Islam per se but when Islam is used to gain political power. What they say is “My religion is my relationship with my God, but I don’t want these leaders, these men, to interpret for me and tell me what I should do or not do. Because they will never interpret religion to help me”. So the problem is that when religion is an institutionalised and used to gain power. Here in the UK there are religious leaders, whether they’re Muslims, Hindus or Sikhs, who want to see religion influence schools and law, and that is discriminatory especially against women and sexual minorities. The schools in the UK are very separated along religious lines and the State encourages this.
What is the role of new generations of ethnic minorities born in the UK?
For them it’s very important to be accepted by the wider society without feeling marginalised and discriminated. It is also important not to forget their identity and culture. But unfortunately a lot of the new generation are retreating into very reactionary ideas and identities.
They’re becoming more radicalised and more conservative than even their parents.
Not all, but there are some men and women.
So is public education failing?
I don’t think public education is the only failure. The problem is that the State is encouraging schools and public spaces to remain divided, it’s funding faith-based schools and organisations, it’s listening to religious leaders and not accepting the contesting voices. And the State is encouraging it also in the wider community by allowing Catholic schools, Jewish schools, etc. And actually a lot of White parents are very racist so they’re going to these schools just to stop their children from mixing with children from minority communities.
(Introduction translated by Loukia Katsiami) – Photos: Pixabay
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