When Religion Becomes a Weapon Against Women

When my organization, Empower Women Media, surveyed over 7,000 people across the Middle East, North Africa, Nigeria, and Pakistan, more than 95 percent agreed that women deserve protection from religious persecution. But for countless women, this consensus has yet to translate into reality.

In many parts of the world, religion is wielded as a weapon used to confine, silence, and control women. Instead of unlocking their God-given gifts, it too often justifies abuses: child marriage, female genital mutilation, honor killings, and discriminatory laws that strip women of agency in marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance, mobility, education, and employment. For hundreds of millions, even basic freedoms—artistic expression, participation in sports, choosing fashion, or traveling without a male guardian—are out of reach.

As an Iranian-American, my work is rooted in the Middle East, where the weaponization of religion against women and girls is stark. Earlier this year in Syria, dozens of Alawite women and girls, some as young as 16, were forcibly abducted—acts that human rights groups have condemned as faith-based targeting. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have weaponized religion, barring girls from education and erasing women from public life. In Iran, the regime has turned women’s bodies into battlegrounds, where a strand of hair can invite prison, flogging, or worse. In Egypt, women who want to leave Islam can lose custody of their children, their jobs, and their legal identity, trapped by a system that weaponizes family law and religious doctrine to keep them in place.

These abuses reflect how religiously justified institutions suppress women’s fundamental rights. Even as the region advances in technology and commerce, many women remain bound by laws and practices that treat them as second-class citizens. Some countries like the UAE are making positive strides forward, but segregation and injustice still shape daily life for many.

The Stefanus Alliance International’s landmark study, FoRB for Everyone: Women in Focus (2021), reveals that violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) often fall hardest on women, yet these abuses often remain hidden. Women are treated as “honor bearers,” with their bodies and choices policed as symbols of family or community reputation. Abuses such as forced conversion, sexual violence, and forced marriage are commonly cloaked in religious justification but are, at their core, expressions of patriarchal control.

Too often, the struggle for religious freedom and the struggle for gender equality are cast as opposing causes: women’s rights advocates may view FoRB as patriarchal by design, while religious conservatives may frame equality as a threat. The Stefanus study challenges this false divide, emphasizing that FoRB protects individuals—not institutions—and can serve as a powerful force for women’s empowerment. The bottom line: FoRB is not an obstacle to gender justice, but a vital ally in achieving it.

As the leader of Empower Women Media, I equip women to stand up for equal citizenship, regardless of their religious identity, through media and education. It is not enough to condemn female genital mutilation, child marriage, or so-called honor killings in isolation; these abuses must be seen within the broader context of religion’s role in society. Women should not be forced to choose between their faith and their freedom. Their voices, stories, and solutions must be amplified.

Media, education, and legal reform must adopt an intersectional approach—one that understands how religious oppression and gender compound each other. This means empowering grassroots activists to identify violations and report on them. Together, we must break silos in governments, academia and the media, highlighting how religious and gender equality advocates can work together as allies, not adversaries.

Religion can and must be a conduit for good.  The true defense of religious freedom is the ability for women to interpret, practice, and live their beliefs without coercion, violence, or discrimination. This struggle is not only for women—it’s for the freedom and dignity of us all.