WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND THE CRISIS OF EUROPEAN MULTICULTURALISM

In Western societies, a crisis of multiculturalism has been observed in the last three decades and multicultural policies have been criticized by both the political right and left. The left worries about the liberal values that may be endangered by the beliefs of ethnic minorities, while the right sees ethnic minorities as a threat to national unity and security. Western societies are undergoing a policy crisis as it has come to be felt that some large Muslim minorities do not share Western values and are not loyal to their receiving country. In this study, the feminist perspective is discussed. Feminists argue that a concern for the preservation of cultural diversity should not overshadow the discriminatory nature of some tribal or traditional customs such as forced marriage, honour killing, or female genital mutilation. Currently, feminists and liberals agree that culture should not be used as an excuse for violations of women’s rights byminority groups. It is argued that multicultural policymust be reconsidered, as the clash between minority customs and women’s rights in receivingWestern societies has become evident