Following funding awarded by a Zutshi-Smith bequeathal to the University of Bristol, Dr Natasha Mulvihill, Associate Professor in Criminology, and Dr Nadia Aghtaie, Senior Lecturer in Gender Based Violence, organized an international symposium to discuss the religious arbitration of marriages involving domestic abuse.  This builds on their earlier work on faith and gender based violence.

The event on 3 September explored the use of councils, courts and panels to confer divorce or annulment in the Muslim, Jewish and Catholic faiths.  Speakers focused specifically on how these mechanisms recognise and respond to cases involving domestic abuse.

The day opened with Professor Samia Bano, Professor of Law at SOAS (UK), talking about Muslim family mediation and Sharia Council provisions in relation to domestic abuse; and was followed by Dr Nadia Aghtaie, presenting her research on women’s experiences and practitioner perspectives on Sharia Councils.

Professor Michael J. Broyde, Professor of Law at Emory University (US) and former Director of the Beth Din of America, then set out the policy arguments for and against religious arbitration in America, focusing specifically on the case of Jewish divorce.  Community Engagement Officer, Barbie Goldfoot, explained the support provided by Jewish Women’s Aid to UK women experiencing abuse; and Joanne Greenaway, Chief Executive Officer for the London School of Jewish Studies and former Director of Get cases for the London Beth Din, recounted her legal representation work for Jewish women whose husbands refuse to give a religious divorce.

In the afternoon session, Thomas Kulandaisamy, a Matrimonial Tribunal Judge in the Clifton Diocese of Bristol, outlined the Catholic canon law provisions relating to annulment.  The convenors would also like to register the input to this session from Professor Charles Reid, Professor at University of St Thomas (US) and Canon Richard Dwyer (Clifton Diocese).  In their presentations, Nikki Dhillon-Keane, from Safe In Faith, part of the Catholic Diocese of Westminster, and Dr Susan Longhurst, Lecturer at St Mary’s University (UK), shared the experiences of Catholic survivors of domestic abuse and gave details on a new 2-year research project to encourage trauma-informed practice within Catholic matrimonial tribunals.

During lunch, our postgraduate, current and former PhD students showcased their research on posters and talked with attendees:

• Intimate Partner Violence & Spiritual Abuse Amongst Pagans (by Bliss Qadesh)
• Domestic Abuse & Violence: The ‘Threshold’ for Islamic Divorce (by Dr Fouzia Azziz)
• The Triangle of SRHR, Sharia, and the Iranian Legal System (with a Focus on Bodily Autonomy and Violence Against Women's Health) (by Gelara Fanaeian)
• The Wages of Sin is Death: A Thematic Analysis of the Construction of Femicide on Facebook in Kenya (by Judith Kibuye)
• The Materiality of Cyber Commercial Sigheh: A Netnographic Study of Merchandised Sex Within the Irano-Islamic Context (by Minoo Sadat)
• Islamic Feminism and Family Law: A Case Study of the Musawah Movement (by Raisha Jesmin Rafa)
• The Role of Faith in Recovery for UK Christian and Ex-Christian Women After Experience of Domestic Abuse (by Vanessa Read)
• Reproductive Coercion: A Comparison Between UK and Italy (by Rosalba Castiglione)

The symposium closed with mixed groups of faith leaders and faith representatives, professionals from the domestic abuse sector (both secular and faith-based), academics and students, discussing their reflections on the work presented and what actions could be taken.

A symposium report and summary for faith communities and domestic abuse services is due to be published in the coming weeks.  Natasha and Nadia would like to thank the Zutshi-Smith funding panel; all the attendees; our postgraduate and PhD students; and our administrator Isis Thomas for her support in organising this event.