Read Shameless’ take on the Aqsa Parvez murder here.
Join the Urban Alliance on Race Relations in Calling Toronto Life on their Misrepresentation of Aqsa Parvez’s Murder
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 10:30 AM
YWCA, Main Lounge
80 Woodlawn Avenue East,
Toronto
The December 2008 edition of Toronto Life features the story of Aqsa Parvez, a young Muslim girl who was killed in her home in Mississauga last winter.
While featuring Aqsa’s story is recognition of a young woman’s life cut tragically short, the Toronto Life article perpetuates common stereotypes about Muslim and immigrant communities, diverting attention from the urgent issue of violence against women across Canada.
On Tuesday November 11th, join the Urban Alliance on Race Relations in a “Don’t’ Believe the Hype” Campaign! The group is asking you to raise your voice on the important issue of violence against women, racism, and Islamophobia.
Get Involved in Three Ways!
1)EMAIL or PHONE Toronto Life Editor in Chief, Sarah Fulford. Once you do that, call up five of your friends and get them to do the same. You canreach Ms. Fulford at 416-364-3333 ext 3063, editor@torontolife.com or letters@torontolife.com
WHEN? Between 9am – 9pm on Tuesday November 11th (If that doesn’t work for you, anytime is better than never!)
WHY? Violence against women, racism, and Islamophobia are issues that affect all of us in diverse and important ways. Join us in voicing your concerns and helping to call attention to misrepresentations that are all too common in our media
WHAT TO EXPECT? This number 416-364-3333 ext 3063 will take you directly to Sarah Fulford’s office, where her assistant will either pick up, or you will be put through to her assistant’s voicemail. You can leave a personal message or voicemail recording for her assistant to pass on to Ms. Fulford.
WHAT TO SAY? Identify who you are and where you are from. State that you are leaving a message for the Sarah Fulford, Editor In Chief and express your dismay with the article on Aqsa Parvez. Bonus Points: Talk about a personal experience that proves to you why addressing this issue is so important and urgent.
Here are a couple of talking points about the article that may help. Feel free to use them directly or make up your own:
1)Aqsa’s murder must be looked at through the larger context of violence against women in Canada. The problem is not limited to any one community or religious faith.
2) The article calls Aqsa’s murder “Toronto’s first honour killing”. Approximately 25 women a year are murdered in incidents of domestic violence. The use of the term “honour killing” is an attempt to sensationalize the situation by invoking common stereotypes about the prevalence of “honour killings” among South Asian Muslim families, thereby suggesting that domestic violence is not occurring at alarming rates across Canada. Instead, we should be working to end violence against all women.
3) The article associates Muslim religiousity with a tendency towards violence. In other words, the more religious a Muslim is, the more likely s/he is to engage in this type of violence. This is false and based on Islamophobic stereotyping.
4) The question, “Has multiculturalism gone too far?” suggests that Muslims and immigrants are threats to Canadian society, rather than contributing members to Canadian society. The idea that “our” tolerance or respect for cultural diversity has let “them” continue their oppressive and dangerous behaviours is not only based on racist and Islamophobic stereotyping of diverse Muslim and immigrant communities, but also ignores the ongoing racism that exists in Canada despite our public commitment to multiculturalism.
5) The focus should be on violence against women, not hijab. The article sets up a false dichotomy between Muslim women who wear the hijab as oppressed and Muslim women who do not wear the hijab as liberated. Furthermore, it reinforces the idea that all young girls want the same things, completely ignoring the diversity and richness of Muslim women’s voices and lived experiences.
2) COME TO THE SPEAK OUT AND PRESS CONFERENCE on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 10:30 AM at YWCA located at 80 Woodlawn Avenue East, Main Lounge. Panelists include representatives of: Muslim Young Women, Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence against Women and Children, Urban Alliance on Race Relations. For more information contact:
michelle@urbanalliance.ca
416-703-6607 x 3
3)SUBMIT TO THE AQSA ZINE # 1. It is s a grassroots zine that is open to all 13-35 year old young women who self-identify as Muslim. This issue’s theme is self-defense and resistance. It is a creative avenue for us to express ourselves, share our own experiences, and connect with others. Submissions deadline is December 1, 2008.aqsazine@gmail.com Blog: aqsazine.blogspot.com
Michelle Cho
Project Coordinator
Urban Alliance on Race Relations
302 Spadina Ave.
Ste. 507
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 2E7
416-703-6607 Ext. 3
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four comments
Thea, thank you for this link. I am going to call today. I am so impressed with the power of our communities to immediately talk back to media in this case and in the case of Margaret Wente's column a few weeks back in The Globe and Mail. Media is an important site of oppressive tactics that needs to be held accountable to its readers. Especially in an era where a blanket statement about "free speech" shuts down any conversation about media concentration and media responsibility! These articles get published and many people think they are "balanced" - it shows that our expectations of mainstream media's balance is pretty skewed when an article about a young Muslim girl does not include any voices of her Muslim peers. Why not talk to a diversity of Muslim girls about how they experience hijab, violence against women, and Canadian racism against Muslims? The article doesn't ONCE mention how Muslim girls are attacked and treated as traditional cultural symbols of the oppression of women in Islam and what it must have been like for Aqsa to deal with that static representation of her rich cultural life. I can't believe the quick portrait at the end of her mother, setting her up as a domestic slave or something. (So creepy to think of this writer sitting outside the family's home, waiting for a scrap of news.) Aqsa wasn't just dealing with problems with her family, she likely faced ineptitude everywhere she turned - the article makes it seem like school officials and the racist school system are benign and helpful but powerless, which is totally wrong... I'm starting to ramble because I'm so worked up, I should stop right now and just call Toronto Life. What are others going to say to Toronto Life??
Posted by piKe
November 11, 2008, 8:57 AM
I saw the cover of the current issue while I was out today (http://www.torontolife.com/covers/200...). For a story about a girl who was murdered? So inappropriate. I don't know how anybody could miss the mark by so much.
Posted by Cate
November 11, 2008, 5:34 PM
sarah fulford, the editor, seems dismissive of the whole thing : http://www.mastheadonline.com/news/20...
Posted by Sheetal
November 11, 2008, 5:53 PM
hey folks..on behalf of organizers just wanted to say thanks for the post - you guys are the first link that comes up on google when you search for the press release! :) nice to see, and so refreshing to see positive comments too.. hope you're all well..
Posted by sumayya
December 12, 2008, 12:02 AM
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