A/68/290 prohibits any restrictions in the forum internum, that is to say, the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice. 3. Practical relevance of a holistic approach 32. The reality of manifold and complicated conflicts in the field of freedom of religion or belief and equality between men and women has led some to the view that the two human rights norms themselves stand in opposition to one another. As a result, the relationship between these two norms may appear close to a simple zerosum game: any progress concerning gender equality seems to indicate a defeat of religious freedom, and any insistence on freedom of religion or belief seems to hinder gender-related anti-discrimination policies, or so it is at times misperceived. 33. Not only are such antagonistic views mostly based on a total misunderstanding of freedom of religion or belief and a disregard of its human rights nature; they can also produce protection gaps with serious practical implications. One of the resulting problems is that the potential for synergies between freedom of religion or belief and promoting women’s right to equality remains systematically underexplored. Existing human rights activities in this field do not receive the attention they need and deserve. Sometimes such activities are even delegitimized by antagonistic views which wrongly assume that gender-related anti-discrimination agendas would be weakened by integrating sensitivity for freedom of religion or belief or, vice versa, that work in defence of religious freedom would be diluted by combining it with the promotion of equality between men and women and related human rights issues. 34. Above all, antagonistic views of the two human rights norms would further diminish the prospects of persons whose human rights problems fall in the intersection of freedom of religion or belief and equality between men and women. Indeed, human rights violations in the intersection of the two norms are a reality for many women. One obvious example is forced conversion in combination with forced marriage. In a number of countries, women or girls from religious minorities unfortunately run the risk of being abducted, with the purpose of forcing them to convert to the mainstream religion, often in connection with an unwanted marriage. Another example, albeit much less extreme, concerns dress code regulations in public institutions which disproportionately target women from religious minorities, thus preventing them from achieving important professional or public positions. 35. Being frequently caught between gender stereotypes and stereotypical perceptions of their religious identities, many women from religious minorities feel exposed to the expectation that they have to choose one of two seemingly contradictory options: allegedly, they can either emancipate themselves by more or less abandoning their religious tradition, or they can keep their religious heritage, thereby forfeiting their claims to freedom and equality. Such an artificial antagonism, however, fails to do justice to women’s multifaceted realities, experiences, challenges and wishes. Any assessment of presumed or factual conflicts in this area should therefore take seriously the complexities of women’s life-worlds and appreciate their creative potential. 6 __________________ 6 13-42191 One may assume that the same is true for individuals from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, many of whom are religiously interested and practising, which is a reality so far largely unexplored. 9/22