A RIGHT OR A CRIME?
Some Danish Muslims defy new ban on veils.
Veil debate takes to the streets
On Aug 1, when face veils were banned in Denmark, Sabina did not leave her niqab at home. Instead, she defied the law and took 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 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 for this article, Sabina did not wish to have her surname published for fear of harassment.
The niqab wearers were joined on the streets of Copenhagen by other Muslim women and also non-Muslim Danes, most of whom wore 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 it.
“I believe 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.
Under the law, police can instruct women to remove their veils or order them to leave public
“I believe you have to integrate yourself in society … but I don’t think wearing a niqab means you can’t engage yourself in Danish values” MERYEM Medical stydent
areas. Fines will range from 1,000 Danish crowns (US$160) for a first offence to 10,000 crowns for a fourth violation.
The first such fine was meted out on Aug 4 to a woman at a shopping centre in Horsholm, a city of 46,000 near Copenhagen. She was asked to either remove the veil or leave the premises. She opted to leave and was fined 1,000 crowns.
“I feel this law legitimises acts of hatred but, on the other hand, I feel people have become more aware of what is going on. I get more smiles on the street and people are asking me more questions,” said Ayah, 37.
Mathias Vidas Olsen, who makes reproductions of Viking-era jewellery, supported the campaign by making special bracelets and giving the proceeds to Kvinder I Dialog.
“I’m not for or against the niqab,” the 29-year-old Copenhagen man said. “I’m for the right of the people to wear whatever they want, whether they be a Muslim or a punk.
“I see this as the government reaching into places they don’t belong and as a cheap hit on an already stigmatised group to score cheap political points.”