The women speaking out over the challenges young British Muslim women face

In our latest episode of Young, British and Muslim, presented by Rageh Omaar, we talk about an important yet often under-reported aspect of the British Muslim experience - what it's like to be a young British Muslim woman and the huge challenges they face, both within the Muslim community and in national life.

  • Watch the latest episode of Young, British and Muslim here

It was something that the former Attorney General Dominic Grieve found when he was tasked to go around the country looking at the obstacles being experienced by Muslims living in the UK.

In his report, he found that Muslim women already facing a 'triple penalty' of gender, colour and faith, particularly disadvantages in employment, on the streets, and in their community. Rageh speaks to Mr Grieve about what he found and what can be done about it.

  • British Muslim women are 71% more likely than white Christian women to be unemployed, even when they had the same educational skills (Source: University of Bristol).

  • In mosques, almost a third still don't offer facilities for women to worship (Source: muslimsinbritain.org).

Speaking out about such challenges is often yet another obstacle British Muslim women face - with the pressure frequently coming from within their own community as well as wider society.

The guests joining us for this episode have all managed to find their voice to share their concerns - believing it's important to speak and try to make a difference:

  • Tameena Hussain, an engineer who is a sexual abuse survivor. She has chosen to speak about her story because says she was tired of being silenced and she wants other girls in her community to feel able to come forward.

  • Anita Nayyar, a gender and equality activist who founded Open My Mosque. She campaigns to allow access to women in mosques nationwide that don’t offer such facilities

  • Halimat Shode, founder of the Black Muslim Times. She created the site because she wanted to make sure positive stories of women of all ethnicities were being heard.

We also feature the inspiring story of Ruqsana Begum. She moved into professional boxing after initially training in secret after she worried about telling her parents about her love of sport.