A/72/155 14. Fundamentalisms have emerged out of all the world ’s major religious traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, and others. Given the religious claims of their proponents, the y are especially difficult and dangerous to contest. Given the patriarchal nature of many dominant interpretations of religions and of religious institutions, women face particular obstacles in being heard. However, fundamentalisms represent a minority phenomenon, distinct from broader religious traditions themselves, though drawing selectively from them. No religion is inherently fundamentalist nor should fundamentalist views be imputed to all adherents of any religion. 15. The different manifestations of fundamentalism display notable similarities, especially in their interpretation of gender and family. Although patriarchy is manifest in most religions, it takes on a more extreme form in fundamentalism, which often entirely rejects substantive equality between women and men. At the heart of fundamentalist agendas are the circumscription of women ’s roles, the suppression of women’s rights and control of women. 17 16. Often, such agendas also promote the segregation of women, which makes it difficult for women to participate equally in cultural life and in the making and evolution of culture. Gender-based laws and policies promoted by fundamentalist groups are based on stereotyped and sexist ideas about gender relations, which clearly discriminate against women and girls. 17. Opposition to fundamentalism is not akin to an anti-religion stance. Both women religious believers who do not conform to fundamentalist dogma, and non-religious women, have often been targets of fundamentalist movements. Both have played important roles in the human rights struggle against fundamentalism. Fundamentalist groups often violate women’s right to freedom of religion and to take part in cultural life. 18. The Special Rapporteur employs the term “extremism” alongside “fundamentalism” because it plays a significant role in United Nations debates and includes movements not drawing from religion. However, the question of definition should always be carefully considered and applied in accordance with relevant international human rights norms (see A/HRC/34/56, para. 14). The misuse of the concept of extremism to repress activities undertaken in acco rdance with international human rights standards is a serious concern. 19. Some forms of contemporary extremism that have a particular impact on women’s cultural rights focus on myths of a homogenous nation, claims of ethnic or racial superiority or purity, and populist ultranationalism directed against liberal and pluralistic democracy. Much of the contemporary assault on women ’s cultural rights from extremism emanates from the far right of the political spectrum, which is ascendant or in power in many places. 20. The United Nations system has focused on violent extremism but mostly declined to define it. Most commonly, the international community gives less attention to extremist ideology and fails to adequately reference fundamentalism, despite the grave impacts on human rights, thereby “failing to recognize that non-violent religious extremism is spreading into the mainstream”. 18 This “mainstreaming” creates fertile conditions for discrimination against women. __________________ 17 18 6/23 See, for example, Betsy Reed, ed., Nothing Sacred: Women Respond to Religious Fundamentalism and Terror (New York, Thunder’s Mouth Press/Nation Books, 2002), pp. 75 and 76. International Civil Society Action Network, “Extremism as mainstream: implications for women, development and security in the MENA/Asia Region”, Brief No. 11 (2014), p. 3. 17-12043