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Cherie: No excuses for inequality Cherie: No excuses for inequality
(about 6 hours later)
Culture and religion cannot be used as an excuse for discriminating against women, Cherie Blair has argued.Culture and religion cannot be used as an excuse for discriminating against women, Cherie Blair has argued.
Mrs Blair, ex-PM Tony Blair's wife and high-flying human rights lawyer, told the BBC: "Women and men are equal human beings and deserving of equal respect." The human rights lawyer, wife of former PM Tony Blair, said all the major world faiths shared "an insistence on the dignity of all God's people".
But she said there was a "long way to go" internationally, citing issues like divorce law in countries like Egypt. In a speech, she said discrimination on religious grounds was a "distortion" of the true message of some faiths.
Mrs Blair, a Catholic, also said she could not claim British society was perfect, citing the gender pay gap.Mrs Blair, a Catholic, also said she could not claim British society was perfect, citing the gender pay gap.
She is to set out her views in a lecture on Wednesday, organised by the BBC's Today programme and Chatham House, home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. In a lecture on Wednesday, organised by the BBC's Today programme and Chatham House, she pointed out new laws in Egypt which gave men and women different rights on divorce.
'Fallible' interpretation 'Continuing discrimination'
Speaking head of it to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mrs Blair said: "Religion, like everything else, is subject to interpretation. Religion is only as good as the people who operate the religion. She also highlighted Orthodox Jewish practices under which a woman cannot divorce without her husband's consent.
"And in the course of that fallible human beings, mainly men, will make judgements which aren't necessarily true to the principle, that basic principle, that men and women are of equal value." And, in many areas, she said, "proclaimed adherence to a specific religion or system of belief or culture is intimately tied to women's continuing discrimation and abuse".
I think we have to be careful about judging people by their appearances Cherie Blair It is not laid down in the Koran that women can be beaten by their husbands or that their evidence should be devalued, as it is in some Islamic courts Cherie Blair
In her speech she will also mention orthodox Jewish communities, but asked whether gender inequality was a particular problem in Islamic countries, she replied: "I think the facts speak for themselves." She rejected the view that human rights could not be exported to some countries because of religious or cultural differences saying "human rights are universal".
She said divorce law and laws relating to custody of children were "unfavourable to women" in many Islamic countries. And she rejected the notion that Islam was innately discriminatory towards women by suggesting that the use of Sharia law in some Muslim countries went against the true precepts of the faith.
Dialogue 'important' "It is not laid down in the Koran that women can be beaten by their husbands or that their evidence should be devalued, as it is in some Islamic courts," she said.
But she said she had given a speech on women's rights in Saudi Arabia - where women are banned from driving - and refused to support the Lib Dems' boycott of the visit of Saudi King Abdullah, saying it was important to engage in dialogue and exchange views to "find cultural change". "It is important for judges and political leaders to remind everyone that the philosophical purpose of the Sharia is to protect and promote human welfare."
Earlier Mrs Blair told the BBC, religion was "subject to interpretation" by "fallible human beings, mainly men" who were not necessarily true to the principle of equal rights.
But she refused to support the Lib Dems' boycott of the visit of Saudi King Abdullah, saying it was important to engage in dialogue and exchange views to "find cultural change".
On Islamic veils she pointed out she had been brought up by Catholic nuns who wore veils and had no problem with women covering their heads.On Islamic veils she pointed out she had been brought up by Catholic nuns who wore veils and had no problem with women covering their heads.
But on full-face veils she added: "I think however, that if you get to the stage where a woman is not able to express her personality because we cannot see her face, then we do have to ask whether this is something that is actually acknowledging the woman's right to be a person."But on full-face veils she added: "I think however, that if you get to the stage where a woman is not able to express her personality because we cannot see her face, then we do have to ask whether this is something that is actually acknowledging the woman's right to be a person."
She said people could get "very hung up about women's clothes" and the question was about honouring religious beliefs, "provided they are freely undertaken". But she added: "I think we have to be careful about judging people by their appearances."
"I think we have to be careful about judging people by their appearances," she added.