The UK government has finally agreed to investigate how sharia councils in Britain represent a parallel legal system, one that particularly discriminates against women and fails to protect them from violent husbands.

Baroness Cox, a member of the House of Lords, has been a leading voice over the years speaking out against the dangers of sharia law. Friday, she led a debate in parliament about quasi-legal systems in Britain, such as sharia councils.

The move comes amid the government’s unveiling of its “Counter-Extremism Strategy" released last week. The document states the “overriding principle” of any religious arbitration body is that it must “operate within the rule of law in the UK.”

Evidence has emerged that sharia law is “misused and applied in a way which is incompatible with the law,” the document states. It notes, “There is only one rule of law in our country, which provides rights and security for every citizen. We will never countenance allowing an alternative, informal system of law, informed by religious principles, to operate in competition with it.”

Drawing on research provided by Cox, the government document acknowledges some women were “unaware of their legal rights to leave violent husbands and are being pressurized to attend reconciliation sessions with their husbands despite legal injunctions in place to protect them from violence.”

The government has now committed to commissioning an independent review “to understand the extent to which Shari’a is being misused or applied in a way which is incompatible with the law.”

Cox’s website, equalandfree.org, provides more information on her legislation as well as numerous cases studies of women who have bared the brunt of sharia councils in Britain.