The war on terror is a war on women

In a lecture this Thursday (11 October), Professor Akbar Ahmed will draw attention to the plight of women in countries caught up in the war on terror. He will argue that in failing to support them, we are in danger of creating a new generation of terrorists. People forget that millions of people around the world are both Muslim and moderate, integrated into mainstream society and leading worthwhile lives." - —Professor Akbar Ahmed One of the world's most eminent scholars of modern Islam will be giving a public talk in Cambridge this Thursday (11 October) on the challenges facing Muslim women post 9/11. Professor Akbar Ahmed, who has a distinguished career in diplomacy and academia, is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University in Washington DC and currently Diane Middlebrook and Carl Djerassi Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies. In his lecture - Gender, Security and Inter-generational Conflict in Muslim Societies Post 9/11 - Professor Ahmed will argue strongly that the governments of countries caught up in the war on terror need to work alongside western nations to help women regain and strengthen their public and private roles. This advance can be achieved only by confronting the barriers that continue to prevent women from fulfilling their potential and by bolstering women's rights. In a wide-ranging discussion, Professor Ahmed will draw attention to the daunting problems that many Muslim women encounter on a daily basis in war-torn countries where communities collapse as a result of conflicts that take men away from home and threaten the often fragile security of the families left behind.