Deeyah Khan

We cannot leave vulnerable young men open to the exploitation of extremists, both for our own security and their own wellbeing. ”

I'm just trying to stretch the public space wider and make it more open so that a wider variety of people and faces and stories and perspectives and also expertise can come through. So everything that I do rests on that, trying to support on other voices. ”

Within a life that seems uncomfortably scripted by family and community pressures, hyper-religiosity can provide a way to break with parental expectations and flee from parental control. ”

The Islamic State does not want us to open our doors to their refugees. It wants them to be hopeless and desperate. It does not want us to enjoy ourselves with our families and friends in bars and concert halls, stadiums and restaurants. It wants us to huddle in our houses, within our own social groups, and close our doors in fear. ”

While religious fundamentalism is treated as a serious social problem because it has the potential to lead to rare but devastating acts of terrorism against the public, with a variety of programmes and interventions to address it, everyday violence against women occurring in the name of fundamentalism has long been neglected. ”

Left to the mercies of their communities, Muslim women and children remain in abusive households and face losing their financial security over issues like child maintenance and inheritance through the judgments of 'sharia' courts. ”

I come from a Muslim family. The label 'Muslim' is one aspect of me, but it's not the only part of me. ”

Some Muslim children, both male and female, have little choice in who to marry, what to study, what their careers will be, and who they can socialise with. Their lives are constrained under the expectations of family 'honour.' ”

We ignore the similarities between the religious extremism and ethno-nationalism at our peril. ”

Women with education, skills, and independent sources of income are more able to withstand the pressures of the patriarchal family and more able to express their opinions and to move freely within their communities. ”