Muslim charity run

[Thomasina79]

Has banned women and girls over the age of 12 from participating. Thoughts?

forcrafty "it’s surely exactly what we would be campaigning for over on the sex and gender boards.".

No, men and women always run together and it's fine. Every marathon, 5k and trail race is open to both sexes.

Perhaps our complaints should be made to the council for allowing a discriminatory event to take place on their land. https://towerhamletsportal.icasework.com/resource?id=20231742&db=towerhamlets

This charity is subject to a regulatory warning by the charity commission. No one should be donating to them, noting that their income was over £5m somehow.

it is disgraceful. This is an example of why this country has gone to pot.

This isn't a 'men's' charity race. It is for everyone apart from females 12 and over. Do you not think there is a problem with that?

That is absolutely not true. Love marriages are about as equally common in all South Asian communities in the UK. They happen more often among all religions, but arranged and forced marriage are also a feature.

Anecdotally, in my London girls' school, the girls least likely to go onto further education because they were getting married where Sikh. Hindus next. The vast majority of Muslims were going to college. We did this internal study for Sociology ourselves in the academic year 2000-2001. East London school. 180 girls.

This doesn't fall foul of the Equality Act because of the presence of a legitimate aim.

Women participate less in sport and are more likely to do so without the presence of men. So the legitimate aim is to improve women's health, increase health awareness for women and to increase inclusion of women.

A male only race for Muslim men COULD have similar arguments EXCEPT it falls foul of that because it then includes girls to a certain age. That's clear and deliberate sex discrimination using religion as an excuse. That's not ok. It's not integral to worship and it asks questions about what efforts are being made for Muslim women's sport where uptake is even lower.

When you say ‘your community’, what are you referring to?

What would be the 'legitimate aim' to this 'no females 12 or over' restriction?

I'm guessing if we made a suggestion as to why, we'd get banned from here.

What is the participation in sport like specifically for observant Muslim men?

The community of the poster I am talking to. Are these problems not present in some communities?

This. I bought a treadmill and run outdoors only for organised races exactly because of this (not only sexual harassment, but insulting, fat shaming etc etc etc)

That said, that exclusion is only an aspect of a bigger cultural problem around girls and women above puberty age, so not sure why anyone would find it surprising.

What would be the 'legitimate aim' for this 'no females aged 12 or over' restriction, in your eyes?

Where’s the women’s race here?

There’s only one race being organised from the mosque. And it excludes females over 12.

Surely you mean muslim men, boys and girls under 12? This is not a mens run.

Yes, and there has been pressure within the Jewish community to change that. A Jewish man who won't grant his wife a divorce can find himself a social pariah, Jewish women can insist on a clause about the granting of a divorce in their marriage contracts, and so on.

Did the Race for Life exclude men but allow boys under the age of 12 to compete, otherwise it's a false equivalence.

Yes there’s a big difference in allowing exemptions to fulfil a real need such as Men’s Sheds, which I am a big fan of or a group for women’s mental health for example and those which exclude people out of sexism and not legitimate need such as all the golf clubs who wanted and many still do, to keep women out of the clubhouses due to pure sexism which also meant that many of them were discriminated against not only in regards to sport but also in business and employment as so many contacts and deals are made in the clubhouses.

The solutions to this issue are 1) educating boys that this is unacceptable and 2) actual consequences for the men who engage in such harassment. Banning women and teenage girls from running is NOT the solution 🙄

No.

This is all of our country. This is Britain in 2025. We will not turn a blind eye to blasphemy laws, misogynistic policies and extrajudicial courts because the women involved are painted as willing participants.

Does anyone remember Shafilea Ahmed? I always think of her when this issue arises.

Ha Ha Ha!

It does.

It’s only a men’s race because females over the age of 12 have been banned. Surely you can see the distinction ?

I've ran with a Muslim woman before. She wears leggings with a long sleeved tunic type top that comes down to her mid thighs and a built in hijab. She said it's comfortable and gives her the same freedom of movement as everyone else but still covers her modesty.

I am amazed that anyone is shocked.

This appears to be part of the issue in having Muslim run areas in the country. They feel free to ignore UK law. It is a mystery why the current Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman was ever allowed to stand for election again and now he has pushed out all who challenger him and created an environment where they see it perfectly acceptable to run events that exclude women and ignore our laws.

Matthew Swipewright shared a clip in X with a Muslim leader sitting with Humza Yousaf explaining how Muslims like him want more power and influence and are reaching a tipping point where if they don’t achieve their aims, they will do something different. There are a number of Muslims are already in many positions of power at the very top.

From the article linked below

“Toxic” was the standout word from a recent damning report into Tower Hamlets council and how it is run under independent mayor Lutfur Rahman.
A secretive culture permeates a town hall where “many good managers" have quit as a result of "speaking truth to power”, was the thrust of a government ordered investigation.
One councillor told the Standard that the atmosphere inside the local authority was "often dysfunctional and, at best, childish".

When Mr Rahman, a former solicitor, was re-elected the independent mayor of Tower Hamlets in May 2022 it was a comeback that the political establishment dreaded.

Sensationally forced out of government seven years earlier, a specialist court found him guilty of vote-rigging and religious intimidation which resulted in 2014 local elections being annulled.

The election court in 2015 heard Mr Rahman made false statements about his rival Labour’s John Biggs, administered council grants in a way that constituted electoral bribery and spiritually intimidated voters.

www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/lutfur-rahman-tower-hamlets-mayor-aspire-b1205024.html