It seems that what would happen as a result of this social engineering is that more white women would be given jobs and as a result making the gap even wider between non-white ethnic minority women.

White men would give white women these jobs and so give white women their opportunity to be equal to the white man and there you have a different segregated community all of its own.

The equal opps commission is a joke and in effect creates equality for white women at the expense of discrminating against everyone else.

The issues still boil down to one of race. Racism has always been the issue and always will be. The sad thing is that is now more likely than ever to be swept under the proverbial carpet.

You have not done your homework; have made assumptions; made extrapolations; and made statements without substantiating them. This is not only dangerous but divisive. Your misleading article may mean some Muslim women missing out on this great opportunity because you have misled them.
Your opinions do not reflect the views of many Muslim women. In fact you are out of touch with grass roots Muslim women. Since the news broke – many Muslim women from across the UK have enquired and welcomed the initiative and already want to know when they can access the funding.
You claim that Muslim women will be ‘another group of terrorist suspects.’ You have not explained how you have concluded this. No one has said that Muslim women need to get involved in tackling extremism because they are the cause of extremism. The situation is quite the opposite – the government have finally realised the huge potential that Muslim women have and want their help in tackling extremism. Surely this is a compliment! This is not the only initiative to tackle extremism – empowering Muslim is one of many. The aim is that collectively these initiatives will make a difference.
This is not even a government initiative. Muslim women have been asking the government to help empower them; get them involved in tackling extremism; and have been complaining about the lack of their involvement. Finally they are getting Muslim women involved – but people like you are complaining! So when you say that this is a ‘half-baked, harebrained idea’ – you are in fact criticising and insulting Muslim women as the idea has come from them. Muslims are so used to being victims and it is so easy to be critical. However, if a good opportunity comes along we should recognise and welcome it. I have been critical of the government on many other issues, you only have to look on my website, Muslim Voice UK – but I recognise that this is a great opportunity for Muslim women.
You say that ALL women regardless of faith etc share similar experiences, difficulties etc. This statement clearly shows that you have no idea what kind of lives many Muslim women lead. Perhaps you need to go and visit some grass roots Muslim women’s organisations. Yes, some experiences etc will be the same – however others will be VERY different. The Muslim community generally have patriarchal and conservative attitudes and many Muslim women face negative attitudes due to confusion between culture and religion and do not get to practice their Islamic rights. You seem to only focus on the Muslim women who are free to practice their rights and totally ignore the reality of the many Muslim women that can’t.
The broad idea behind the initiative is to strengthening Muslim women’s voices by tackling discrimination, breaking down barriers to employment and higher education etc. Hence, Hazel Blears has set up an advisory group of Muslim women from across the UK to advise on exactly these types of issues and take them forward. The initiative will also mean funding is available for various training courses that Muslim women can benefit from.
The aim of the initiative is that once empowered, it will be easier for Muslim women to get into decision making positions in their communities and mainstream society; have the confidence to address issues / concerns in their communities and wider society; to pass their skills on to their children and thus help empower them too; and be good role models. Over the long term empowering women will help to indirectly tackle extremism. Muslim women are an under used resource; they make up 50% of the adult Muslim population - there are 800 000 Muslim women in the UK. Getting Muslim women more active will mean they will have greater influence in all areas of life and one of the areas that will benefit is tackling extremism – not only the violent extremism but also extremism towards women. Even if one thinks women will make no difference in reducing extremist attitudes – surely it is worth a try!

Muslims shouldnt cultivate dependency on the Job Market.

We should focus on Entreprenurialism. This will sustain our economic empowerment.

Their is more entreprenurial spirit in the Muslim community, than many others. We should focus our energies on sustaining that spirit.

Being Entrepreurial will inevitably bring about strong leadership skills, assertiveness etc from a practical prospective.

No Matter how good you are in the Job, Market, the invisiable ceiling will ALWAYS be their !!!

Shaista Gohar - The statement behind initiatives such as this is that - terrorism is a problem of muslims and therefore by involving muslim women we will address the problem of islamic terrorism. A convenient scapegoat for failed foreign policies that have been responsible for killing tens of thousands of muslims in illegal wars.

Lesson - If you play with fire then don't be surprised if you get burnt and when you do don't blame others.

Muslims will never be accepted in this country and there will always be a 'test' that they will fail. Sad but true as that is what racsim is.

Discrmination against muslims thanks to sexed up hype of media and government is now more acceptable. That is I think the real point that the sister was trying to make.

I too wonder - what's so special about muslim women that they require a whole government initiative?? and how can a small group of 'advisers' speak or represent the richly diverse community of muslim women. Personally, I don;t trust any gov initiative that 'gives' away money - there is always a price to to - one of them being unknowing colusion.