An Intersectional Analysis of Muslim Women’s Experiences In Politics

Abstract Book of the 8th Global Conference on Women's Studies

Year: 2026

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An Intersectional Analysis of Muslim Women's Experiences In Politics

Nafisa Kiani

ABSTRACT:

Since October 2023, 224 women have worked in the House of Commons as MPs. This is the first instance when the representation of women has increased beyond a third. After the 2024 general election, the number of Muslim women has not increased dramatically to 25, as only 13 Muslim women were MPs before the general election. The purpose of this thesis is to discover if Muslim women face certain barriers when seeking political office. Some of these obstacles are connected to kinship networks, flawed recruitment practices and family commitments.

This thesis takes an intersectional lens by considering how ethnicity, age, gender and religion operate as factors impacting Muslim women’s employment paths. Researching a diverse range of political roles creates a broad and representative sample, allowing the sharing of different experiences that previous studies have not offered. Thematic analysis will be undertaken to find key themes emerging from the results.
This research is based on 25 qualitative interviews with British Muslim women across political parties within the United Kingdom, where obstacles including electoral fraud, have been prevalent.
This study seeks to understand what is classed as discrimination and which factors hinder women’s capacity to seek political office. It aims to specify the psychological effects of British Muslim women’s exclusion from political office and the positive benefits to society and policy-making associated with better representation of British Muslim women in political roles.
This research seeks to fill the academic gap, as limited research exists on Muslim women encountering challenges in political careers.

Keywords: Intersectionality; Kinship; Networks; Obstacles; Political; Office; Muslim Women