Article 18 pronoun swap

• One handout of the ‘feminized’ version of Article 18 of the ICCPR for each participant.

Distribute one copy of the handout to each participant. Explain that the session is going to focus on FORB and gender and will begin with an exercise to refresh our memories about what FORB means.

Read out the revised Article 18 in full:

“According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 18:

• Every woman shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of her choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest her religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
• No woman shall be subject to coercion which would impair her freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of her choice.
• Freedom to manifest her religion or belief may be subject only to such limitations as prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental freedom and rights of others.
• The state parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of mothers and, when applicable, female legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.”

BUZZ GROUPS (15 MIN)

Ask participants to get into threes with people sitting next to them and discuss:

• When reading or listening to this version, how do you feel? Why?
• Do you think that women and men have the same experience of having the right to FORB in practice? Why or why not?

QUICK PLENARY DISCUSSION (10 MIN)

Invite two or three participants to briefly share their reflections.

Thank the participants for sharing their reflections. Make the following points:

• The point of reformulating article 18 is not to argue that women have, or should have, different rights to men. The point is that they have the SAME rights.
• FORB means that any woman, just like any man, has the right to think for herself, to believe whatever she believes, and to live her life on the basis of what she herself believes, even if that involves breaking social or religious norms.
• Like every man, every woman has the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of her religion or belief. She also has the right to be protected against coercion in matters of religion and belief.
• We are going to look more closely at these issues in the rest of this session.