University of Toronto study finds high levels of equality for Muslim women in Canada

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/uot-uot020415.php

Public Release: 4-Feb-2015
University of Toronto

A landmark study on gender equality among religious minorities in Canada sharply disputes the stereotype Muslim women are more repressed by men than other groups of immigrants.

Sharia law, burqas, honour killings and overseas terrorism directed at girls and women grab headlines and shape public opinion, but workforce participation rates among immigrants suggests a trend toward high levels of equality for Muslim females living in Canada.

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Reitz said the study's findings should dispel misperceptions about female subservience restricting Muslim women in Canada to roles in the home. While recent Muslim immigrants demonstrate more gender inequality than some groups, the data for others under far less public scrutiny such as Hindus and Sikhs are not much different. National culture in the country of origin makes a bigger difference than religion itself. For example, gender inequality is greater for Muslim immigrants from Pakistan than from the Middle East or Europe, regardless of individual strength of religious commitment. Similar patterns of difference by country of origin are found among Christian immigrants.

"Most tellingly, second-generation Muslim women in Canada are just as active in the workforce as other groups," said Reitz.

Work force participation rates for women compared to men have long been viewed as a prime indication of the extent of gender equality in the Canadian population.

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