Women Leaving Islam, a new film by the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, premieres on 1 February at 6pm UK time as a challenge to #WorldHijabDay and religious modesty rules. You can watch the film here.

In this powerful film, six ex-Muslim women activists share their moving stories of growing up in Muslim families and Muslim-majority countries and the violence, loss and shunning they faced because of their apostasy.

The women talk about everything from tearing their hijab on door handles as a child, wearing a burkini on a beach in Italy, wanting to scream their atheism in Mecca during Hajj, losing custody of a child after a husband’s accusations of blasphemy, reporting a violent fundamentalist father, forging a male guardian’s signature in order to flee their country and being shunned for defending gay rights…

Despite the risks, the women: Fauzia Ilyas, Fay Rahman, Halima Salat, Mimzy Vidz, Rana Ahmad and Zara Kay, speak of hope, happiness and freedom from Islam and the hijab.

Join us to watch #WomenLeavingIslam. Also, draw a dove with a hijab in its beak as a symbol of women’s freedom from hijab. You can draw it anywhere – on a wall with chalk, on a piece of paper, your body or hand… CEMB’s resident artist, Victoria Gugenheim, explains how to draw a simple dove with a hijab in its beak.

Use the hashtags #WomenLeavingIslam #FromHijabToFreedom #NoForcedHijab #NoHijabDay #FreeFromHijab to challenge religious misogyny and sexism on #WorldHijabDay.

For more information on the film, see Rahila Gupta’s review.

Women Leaving Islam’s Producer: Gita Sahgal; Executive Producer: Maryam Namazie; and Producer, Director and Filmmaker: Reason4Freedom.

Also listen to Maryam Namazie’s remarks on how World Hijab Day is like Breast-Ironing Day or FGM Day – a celebration of misogyny and sexism:

For more information, contact Maryam Namazie, m.namazie@ex-muslim.org.uk, www.ex-muslim.org.uk.