Although it was very difficult to come to Atlanta and I faced hard times with my visa and I was interrogated in the airport, but the discussions of the conference made it up for me.
This forum started by idea raised by former president of US Jimmy Carter about the role of religion in advancement or suppression of women , he raised this idea two years ago in the Congress of the world religions . And that’s why the center organized this forum to allow people from different places of the world , from different religious traditions to share the best practices in this topic. the attendees of the forum are Human Rights activists, academics , religious leaders , traditions leaders and social media activists .
First of all this conference is so special for me because I met Prof Abduallahi Nai'em and he is just a great inspiration for me and many Muslims, his writing of Human Rights, secularism and Islam is guiding me and many Muslims all over the world . Prof el Naiem is challenging the traditional interpretations of Islam , deconstructing them and offering a progressive point of view that reconcile Islam with concepts like democracy, secularism and Human rights .
The second reason which make me happy that I am presenting Nazra project "exploring taboos " on using the social media to tackle sexuality issues in Egypt , this project is funded by Rising Voices project. Exploring taboos is a project that is trying to start a public debate about the taboos in the Egyptian society not to confront it and to deconstruct it but to raise awareness and create a safe zone to tackle such issues .
The last reason for my happiness that I found people I related to , follow feminists from the international solidarity network , Women Live Under Muslim Laws and the international campaign for equality in the family law in Muslim world Musawah
The conference is such a safe place to exchange and question ideas and beliefs and being here is such a unique experience.
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