Our Principles

As a network, we consciously build bridges across geographical areas and between women from different backgrounds and with different identities.

We are especially concerned about marginalized women. This includes non-Muslims in Muslim-majority states, especially where space for religious minorities is disappearing; Muslim minorities facing discrimination, oppression, or racism; women whose assertions of sexuality (including but not limited to sexual orientation) are either criminalized or are socially unacceptable.

We focus on laws and customs and the concrete realities of women’s lives. This means paying attention to a diverse range of practices and laws that get classified as "Muslim" and the effect these have on women, rather than on the religion of Islam itself.

We recognise that although women’s struggles are diverse, they are interconnected.  We are therefore committed to transnational solidarity.

We actively endorse plurality and autonomy, and consciously value and encourage a diversity of opinions in our work. Individuals and groups linked through the network define their own particular priorities and strategies according to their context.

Personal relationships have always been central to the work of our network; we value the solidarity and active support that networkers extend to each other by way of personal links.