Religion is a part of culture and in many countries it prescribes how we should and should not behave. Again, this has implications for women.

• Some religions deny women the right to make decisions about reproduction. Many women in Catholic countries for example feel that the Vatican's ruling on contraception is an infringement of their reproductive and human rights.
• Judaism is based on the teachings of the Old Testament of the Bible and the Talmud or book of laws and traditions. These laws treat women differently in various circumstances
• In Islamic countries religion provides laws that are separate from state law. Sharia or Family law is based on the teachings of the Quran. Sura 4 of the Quran deals specifically with women
• Sharia law covers issues of marriage, divorce, adultery, property rights, rape and violence for example:
  • Islam protects women and lays down specific property rights for women, but in reality they have few property rights.
  • In financial matters the law says that a woman's testimony is only worth half that of a man.
  • There is inequality in rulings on divorce
• Religious scholars interpreted the holy texts hundreds of years ago, to meet the social needs that existed at the time. Then only men were literate, so the interpretation was from a male perspective.

It is important that you know exactly what is said about women in your holy texts, whether the Bible, or the Quran, or the Torah.