Niqab and Otherness

By Natasha Bakht

August 1, 2014

Wearing the niqab is “other” only if non-wearers insist on making it so, argues University of Ottawa law professor Natasha Bakht

Contrary to the prevailing view that male family members force women into this attire, the study suggests that many women, in fact, faced familial opposition to their personal decision to wear the niqab Muslim women who wear the niqab represent "stranger strangers A new report from Ontario, produced by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, based on interviews with niqab-wearing women, finds that the reasons for wearing the niqab are highly personal and diverse I am referring, in particular, to the situation of Muslim women who wear the niqab, or the full-face veil, and the growing agitation that has been expressed about them publicly They include that the niqab oppresses women, prevents integration, offends secularism and tolerance, decreases security and communication, is impolite, encourages proselytism, and is not a religious requirement Although most federal political parties denounced Bill 60, it is very telling that there was little concern over the bill's predecessor, which had targeted niqab-wearing women only rather than all people who wear religious symbols

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