Foto: CKU
Today, on the 8th of March, we mark International Women’s Day. A day celebrated by people across the world since 1921 as a reminder of the fight for gender equality. To mark the occasion, we turn our attention to KVINFO’s work with Islamic feminism in Morocco, supported by CKU.
The Fight Against Oppression of Women
In Morocco, KVINFO, backed by CKU, has invested significant effort in advancing gender equality in Islam. Since 2023, the organisation has supported the development of Islamic feminism in the country. One of the approaches is to develop tools that empower women’s rights organisations, religious leaders, judges, and policymakers to elevate Islamic feminism in the public discourse. These feminist perspectives are crucial in efforts to shift societal attitudes toward gender-based violence, women’s inheritance rights, polygamy, and underaged marriage.
Although Morocco has made progress in recent years, the challenges remain substantial. According to KVINFO, gender-based violence and women’s parliamentary representation are still major concerns.
A 2023 report from the Moroccan network against gender-based violence (LDDF-INJAD) showed that 57% of Moroccan women had experienced physical and/or sexual violence within the past year. In 2025, over 24% of members of the Moroccan parliament were women. An increase of 2,5 percentage points since 2021. These numbers indicate progress yet also underline the urgency of continued action. Therefore, KVINFO’s work in Morocco is still highly relevant.
New Interpretations of Islam
Islamic feminism is one of KVINFO’s central tools in promoting gender equality in Morocco. The movement seeks to combine freedom of religion and belief with gender equality, paving the way for changes in social norms that ultimately improve conditions for women. For this reason, KVINFO works in close collaboration with Moroccan advocates of Islamic feminism.
In practice, Islamic feminism allows women to contribute to the narratives and traditions that shape Muslim religiosity. In other words, it creates space for new interpretations of Islamic texts, helping transform the perception of women’s roles in Muslim communities. A key method is ‘ijtihad’, a process of reinterpretation, that allows scholars and believers to reassess the meaning of religious texts in new ways. This opens the door to understandings of Islam where gender equality occupies a more central place.
Islamic feminism thus demonstrates how religious practice can evolve on a feminist foundation without contradicting theological doctrine.
Religion and Equality, Hand in Hand
Religious feminism has gained momentum, not only within Islam, but across the major religions. In Christianity, for instance, feminist theology has been influential since the 70s and often shapes historical narratives today. This influence is visible in the everything from popular media, such as the Danish podcast Kvinde kend din historie (Woman Know Your History), and in literature such as Lisbeth Smedegaard Andersen’s book Bibelens Kvinder (Women of the Bible). Over time, these religious feminist movements may help reshape norms in societies where religion plays a central role in everyday life and transform broader perceptions of religious values.
This is precisely where the interests of CKU and KVINFO intersect: supporting Islamic feminism in Morocco strengthens both freedom of religion and belief, and the fight for gender equality.
On this day, it is important to highlight that gender equality does not necessarily require societies to abandon their religious foundations, contrary to what is often assumed. KVINFO’s project illustrates that equality can also be pursued within religious frameworks.
Read more about KVINFO’s work in Marokko at KVINFO.dk: Morocco – KVINFO
The projects can be found at cku.dk: Projekt – Center for Church-Based Development
