Now she is preparing for her high school diploma. Once the women have completed their schooling, however, they often encounter rejection on the labor market. She believes it is the Germans, and not Muslim men, who are holding the women back. For more than two years, an increasing number of Muslim women, mostly third-generation immigrants, have been getting together to set up women's groups and Islamic networks in Cologne, Berlin, Munich and other cities. As Muslims in Germany grow more self-confident, so, too, do the women.
Similar trends are apparent in France, the United Kingdom and Sweden.
Islam doesn't need a women's representative, because it's men who subjugate women and not Islam. And that is why Muslim women certainly do need a representative. Having lived in Egypt, Ms. Thoenes is familiar with the attitude of many men in the region. But it has become standard operating procedure, and it's more convenient for them. The women's representative is demanding a special court of justice where Muslim women can take legal action against their husbands and where they could be counseled and divorced by female Muslim judges.