Charities are promoting violence against women – including marital rape – under the guise of ‘advancing religion’, the National Secular Society has said in a new report.
A new report warns charity law needs ‘urgent’ review as charity regulators are ‘failing’ to tackle religious charities which promote misogyny.
The report, ‘Mission and Misogyny’, was published today by the NSS, which campaigns for reform of charity law.
Charities given “advice and guidance” for condoning marital rape
In one example, a preacher at An-Noor Masjid in Birmingham said in a sermon last year that a man can “hit” his wife if she refuses to have sex. The Charity Commission responded by giving the charity “advice and guidance” but apparently took no further action.
The preacher then went on to give sermons at another local Islamic charity, Green Lane Masjid – which had also previously been given “advice and guidance” from the commission after an imam at the charity said a wife cannot refuse sex.
The Scottish charity regulator OSCR has repeatedly refused to penalise religious charities promoting misogyny, the NSS said.
The NSS reported Moray Coast Baptist Church to OSCR in 2022 over a sermon which said the “primary function” of a woman is “to be married, to have children, and to tend to household affairs – the cooking, the cleaning, the washing up”.
It also referred Rosyth Baptist Church to OSCR last year after its pastor said a wife “that submits to her husband’s leadership” is “easier to love”.
In both cases, OSCR refused to intervene, giving the reason that the views expressed “are likely to be held by virtue of a manifestation of a religious belief”.
Other charities have published or signposted material saying a woman must not leave her house without covering her entire body apart from her eyes; women wear trousers because of the “spirit of whoredom”; and “female circumcision” (FGM) has “medical benefits”. All forms of FGM are illegal in the UK and the NHS says it has “no health benefits”.
The report also highlighted how Islamic and Jewish religious ‘courts’ are “typically patriarchal” and frequently discriminate against women. Some religious courts have condoned or enabled violence against women, forced marriage and sexual abuse, the NSS said. Many religious ‘courts’ operate as registered charities or are funded by charities.
Charities promoting misogyny in receipt of public money
The report highlighted how many charities promoting misogyny have received public funding through gift aid, government grants or government contracts. Green Lane Masjid was in line to receive £2.2 million under the Government’s ‘youth investment fund’ in 2023. This was suspended after the NSS expressed concerns about videos posted by the charity online, including one which appeared to describe how to stone a woman to death.
Additionally, all registered charities are exempt from most types of income tax.
All charities in the report are registered under “the advancement of religion”. The NSS warned this charitable purpose is enabling charities to promote misogyny with impunity, and called for it to be reviewed “with a view to its removal”.
It also called for all organisations promoting misogyny to have their charitable status revoked, and for the Government to include a focus on religion in its strategies to tackle misogyny, extremism and violence against women.
The Government has pledged to halve the level of violence against women and girls and said it will outline how it will do so in a new strategy. In July, the Department for Education announced new Relationships, Sex and Health Education guidance will focus on tackling misogyny . Similarly, the Scottish Government has said it will work to “prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls and the underlying attitudes and systems that perpetuate it”.
NSS: Initiatives to end misogyny “doomed to fail” if charities not addressed
NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson, who authored the report, said: “Our research has found a serious and widespread issue of religious charities promoting, condoning or signposting various forms of misogyny.
“In every case, religion is cited to justify the misogyny. While religious groups should be free to advance their faith, their charitable status gives them access to extensive tax benefits, which in these cases amounts to indirect state support of misogyny through public money.
“Yet charity regulators appear unable to tackle this – and we can conclude that the presence of ‘the advancement of religion’ in the list of recognised charitable purposes is a principal barrier.
“The Government’s initiatives to tackle misogyny are welcome – but they are doomed to fail if we cannot root out misogyny from the charity sector.
“We urge the Government and the charity regulators to ensure no organisation which promotes sexism, discrimination or violence against women can become a charity. When it comes to misogyny in society, the charity sector must no longer be a culprit.”
Watch clips from some of the charities featured in the report:
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