Speaking at the Muslim Women Power List UK awards ceremony in Manchester this evening, where she picked up the top award, Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion, Baroness Warsi, said: "I personally come from a family of all girls and was brought up to believe that anything was possible and being a Muslim woman should in no way be seen as a barrier but as an asset to achievement.
"I'm extremely proud to be named as the most powerful British Muslim woman and I'm sure my Pakistani origins, my strong faith and my Yorkshire upbringing has played a huge part.
"Of course I’ve encountered prejudice as a woman and as a Muslim woman. One of the most specific forms of prejudice is journalists who ask, "Are you a Muslim first or British first?", as if to say the two can't be reconciled. I think Islam is a hugely liberating religion for women. When Islam is interpreted properly, it is a religion that supports and reveres women. Unfortunately, I don't necessarily think that's always the way that some sectors of the Muslim community interpret it."
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