Breaking Silence Through Gender Jihad

Abstract

With the advent of the #MeToo movement many Muslim women are naming their abusers now—both in the US and internationally. First, it has opened the door for re-studying the orientalist approach to portraying Muslim women's bodies, and to challenge and critique the idea that Muslim women's complaints against Muslim men complicate race relations in the aftermath of the war on terror in the US and France. Second, this movement has created such movements as the #MosqueMeToo movement and has given birth to a very needed phase of Public Feminism that criticizes Muslim patriarchy. This chapter critically analyzes several documentaries and fictions written and directed by Muslim women and argues that this movement gives an opportunity to Muslim women to speak out against their abusers; it has given freedom to councilors in faith-based institutions and other not-for-profit organizations to talk about sexual assaults—a much needed community service that was previously unavailable.