Muslim women to defy ban

FACE VEILS: OUTLAWED BY DENMARK, JOINING FRANCE AND SOME OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

First-time offenders will be fined about R2 120 and told to go home.

esterday, when face veils were banned in Denmark, Sabina said she would not be leaving her niqab at home. Instead, she would defy the law and take to the street in protest.

In May, the Danish parliament banned the wearing of face veils in public, joining France and some other European countries to uphold what some politicians say are secular and democratic values.

But Sabina, 21, who is studying to be a teacher, has joined forces with a number of other Muslim women who wear the veil to form Kvinder I Dialog (Women In Dialogue) to protest and raise awareness about why women should be allowed to express their identity in that way.

“I won’t take my niqab off. If I must take it off, I want to do it because it is a reflection of my own choice,” she said.

Like the other women interviewed, Sabina did not wish to have her surname published for fear of harassment.

The niqab wearers who planned to protest yesterday will be joined by non-niqab wearing Muslim women and also non-Muslim Danes, most of whom plan to wear face coverings at the rally.

“Everybody wants to define what Danish values are,” said Meryem, 20, who was born in Denmark to Turkish parents and has been wearing the niqab since before meeting her husband, who supports her right to wear it but feels life could be easier without.

“I believe that you have to integrate yourself in society, that you should get an education and so forth.

“But I don’t think wearing a niqab means you can’t engage yourself in Danish values,” said Meryem, who has a place to study molecular medicine at Aarhus University.

Like Sabina, Meryem plans to defy the law, keep her niqab on and protest against the ban.

Under the law, police will be able to instruct women to remove their veils, or order them to leave public areas.

Justice Minister Soren Pape Poulsen said officers would fine them and tell them to go home.

Fines will range from 1 000 Danish crowns (about R2 120) for a first offence to 10 000 crowns for a fourth violation.

“I feel this law legitimises acts of hatred,” said Ayah, 37. – Reuters

Picture: AFP DEFIANT. Women wearing the niqab exit the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen, Denmark, in May. The Danish parliament has passed a law banning the Islamic full-face veil in public spaces.