Norway: Minority women lash out at feminists

According to minority women, Norwegian feminists are naive, cowardly, conflicting and egoists who can't think of anything but themselves. Minority women think Norwegian feminists have failed them in the fight for the same rights that white Norwegian women were already granted, according to Dagsavisen newspaper.

According to the IMDI (Directorate of Integration and Diversity) minority women come out very badly in both employment and wage statistics. Additionally minority women continue to be vulnerable to forced marriage and genital mutiliation.

"The feminists just talk about this when somebody is murdered, kidnapped or is coerced to marry. Otherwise there's silence. There's scorn towards the victims when the Norwegian women movement neglects to support these women and that strongly provokes me." says parliament member Saera Khan.

She things many feminists don't dare to take up the problems for fear of not being politically correct.

"The result is that they have implicitly accepted that minority women's basic rights have been violated. They have failed the women and they have failed the children." says Khan.

Norwegian-Somali Saynab Mohamud, who became famous for her fight against genital mutilation, is disappointed that she never received support from the Norwegian feminists when she stood up to fight against it.

Gender researcher Anja Bredal from the Center for Women and Gender Research at the University of Oslo say that there is still too much looking down at minority women, instead of supporting them like equal feminists.

Anita Rathora, from the organization against public discrimination, thinks Norwegian feminists
aren't in a state to understand that minority women can have the same ambitions in employment as themselves

Antoinette Botti from the Pan-African Womens Association says majority women and minority women fight in two different arenas. "Many of us fight that same rights Norwegian women achieved for themselves many years ago." says Botti.

One of the founders of the women's movement, Jorun Gulbransen, says she understands the criticism against the Norwegian feminist movement but thinks that the movement does busy itself with minority women's problems.

"More unites then divides us, and therefore the women political organizations should be for everybody." says Gulbransen.

Parliament member Inga Marte Thorkildsen admits that the Left hasn't been capable enough to give rights to minority women.

Source: Dagbladet (Norwegian)

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