Mosque Me Too

The Mosque Me Too movement (#MosqueMeToo) is predominantly a Muslim women movement where female pilgrims speak up about sexual abuse experienced on the Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to one of Islam's holiest places, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.[1][2] The movement spread to Muslim women sharing sexual abuse experiences at other Muslim religious centers and holy places across the world such as at Jama Masjid, New Delhi, India.[3] The usage of the 'Me Too' in the movement stems from the Me Too movement which gained worldwide prominence in October 2017.

Background

In February 2018, a Pakistani Muslim woman shared her experiences on Facebook of sexual abuse at the Hajj. The post was subsequently deleted, but not before it had been seen by enough people to trigger more experiences being shared.[4][1]

Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian American journalist, shared her experiences of sexual abuse on Hajj in a book in 1982, which were retweeted in February using the hashtag #MosqueMeToo.[5] At the time of the event she remembered thinking, "Who wants to talk about sexual assault at a holy place? No one would believe it."[6] Many other women came to the social media using the hashtag #MosqueMeToo to also share their experiences of sexual abuse on this religious pilgrimage.[7][8]

Response

On social media some people reacted this movement critically, by saying that is tool of Islamphobia or Western propaganda. Supporters of the movement said Muslim women should not stay silent about the issue of assault in order to avoid negative characterizations of Muslims.[9]

See also

• Me Too Movement
• Incidents during the Hajj

References

1. "Muslim Women Are Speaking Out About Abuse". Time. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
2. "#MosqueMeToo: Women share experiences of sexual harassment inside religious places - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
3. "#MosqueMeToo: Women Call Out Sexual Harassment at Holy Places". The Quint. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
4. Eltahawy, Mona (2018-02-15). "Opinion | #MosqueMeToo: What happened when I was sexually assaulted during the hajj". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
5. "Controversy over #MosqueMeToo sheds light on sexualized violence and xenophobia - Women's Media Center". Retrieved 2018-02-23.
6. Gharib, Malaka (February 26, 2018). "#MosqueMeToo Gives Muslim Women A Voice About Sexual Misconduct At Mecca". NPR.
7. Amidi, Faranak (2018-02-09). "Muslim women rally round #MosqueMeToo". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
8. "Muslim women share sexual harassment incidents during Hajj with #MosqueMeToo". The Indian Express. 2018-02-10. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
9. "With #MosqueMeToo, Muslim Women Are Speaking Out About Abuse". Time. 2015. Retrieved 2019-09-02.