A Muslim student organisation has been barred from holding any further events at Germany’s prestigious Charité University over accusations of segregating events by sex.
Medislam Collective, an Islamic student group, has been accused of violating the anti-discrimination policies of the Charité University of Medicine of Berlin after footage emerged of men and women being separated by their sex during a lecture.
The Medislam group had also reportedly held sex-specific events, including “Activity Day for Sisters” for female students and “Brothers Activity Day” for male students, Bild reported.
Other events included in-depth recitals of the Qur’an. It is currently unclear if the group mandated the segregation or if it was self-imposed by the students.
In a statement to the German paper, a Charité spokesman said that the university did not organise the previous events and that planned events have been barred during an official investigation.
“Based on the current indications and to ensure a non-discriminatory, inclusive and values-based Higher education space from now until further notice, and until further notice, the group will be prohibited from holding activities and events in the premises of the Charité,” the spokesman said.
“Further substantive and legal review of the Group’s activities will be undertaken. The board reserves the right to take further action depending on the outcome of the audit,” the spokesman added.
The Islamic student group claims that it is also open to non-Muslim students.
However, the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has claimed that the incident demonstrated the deleterious impact of Muslim migration and the “Islamification” of German universities.
“These incidents show this is not about an academic debate, but about the politicisation of the freedom of our universities,” AfD Bundestag member Christoph Birghan said per The Telegraph.
A similar controversy broke out earlier this year at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel. During an “Islam Week” at the university, reports also emerged of sex-segregated events, with women sitting in the back of the classroom and even using different entrances from the men. According to Welt, there were also eyewitness accounts of antisemitic stickers on the laptops of students.
The Islamic University Group Kiel (IHG), which organised the events, later claimed that segregation was not mandatory and that the students did so on their own.
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