Luxembourg’s equal opportunities minister, Lydia Mutsch hailed the courage of seekers of gender equality while speaking at a public conference titled "Gender Equality and Freedom of Religion” held by the National Council of Women of Luxembourg yesterday.
In her speech, she recalled that relations between men and women, and in particular their respective rights and obligations, display significant differences in the five major religions, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
However, one observation is common to them: none of these religions advocates unconditional equality between men and women.
"The theme of this evening is not only courageous, exciting and up-to-date but an imperative building block (...) to bring about the desired and necessary change of mentality on the way to an effective equality of the sexes,” said Minister Mutsch.
Most of the current political priorities in the area of gender equality, such as the sharing of family responsibilities or economic and political decision-making positions, the fight against domestic violence or the image of women in society, are dealt with in the texts and bases of the great religions.
This is why Minister Mutsch concluded with the wish to keep the theme on the agenda of future discussions.
