She believes, however, that a better way forward would be to put pressure on the religious leaders who have a lot of contact with families that come from patriarchal and religious societies because they can influence.
- Priests in Orthodox churches and imams in Muslim congregations have a lot of power over families and young people, and I think they are at the heart of the problem.
Maria Rashidi points to the religious leaders because she believes that they are propagating outdated views such as that women should be virgins when they get married because the requirement of virginity is so strongly associated with the honor of the family.
She herself was subjected to an acid attack from her ex-husband, who did not accept her right to divorce.
“They get lots of grants”
Above all, she thinks that the focus should be on the religious congregations that receive state subsidies for their activities.
- These congregations and imams receive millions in contributions from taxpayers.
I think their contributions should be withdrawn unless they talk to the congregations about women's rights and human rights and teach that there is no such thing as a hymen.
In the clip above, Maria Rashidi talks about the similarities with FGM.