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Blog
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| Bids to ban the burqa |
06 May 2010 |
| Belgium's lower house of parliament last week voted for a law that would ban women from wearing the full Islamic face veil in public.
Yesterday South Australian Senator Corey Bernadi called for the burqa to be banned in Australia, warning that it was emerging as a "disguise of bandits and ne'er-do-wells” after an armed bandit used one for disguise in Sydney this week. His blogpost has been countered by Islamic groups concerned that to ban the burqa risks limiting Muslim women’s interaction in society.
The “full Islamic veil” is the burqa which covers the entire face and body, and covers the eyes with meshed cloth; the niqab is similarly full covering, but leaves the eyes clear. For visuals of the varying forms of veiling see this BBC site.
Several European nations are holding similar debates, with legislation mooted in France, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands. Last month French President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered legislation calling the veils “an affront to women's dignity unwelcome in France”.
In northern Italy a Muslim woman has even been fined under anti-terrorism laws for wearing a burqa in public.
The debate has played out in France for the last two decades, and a great resource is Bronwyn Winter’s Hijab and the Republic.
The news in Belgium has been widely reported, with multitudinous opinions. Take for example the French imam who supports such bans. Hassen Chalghoumi is quoted in the UK Telegraph saying that women who wanted to cover their faces should move to Muslim countries where covering was a tradition and that "The burqa is a prison for women, a tool of sexist domination and Islamist indoctrination".
There is however a distinct lack of feminist voices – let alone Muslim women’s voices – on the issue. And it’s a divisive one. Australian journalist Virginia Haussegger weighed into the argument last year with a column which won her some support but gained her a lot of criticism, particularly from other women. It led to a brilliant debate at ANU with Haussegger alongside Julie Posetti and Dr Shakira Hussein
who both made a big point of declaring their respect for Haussegger, while respectfully disagreeing with her.
And Haussegger did make some decent points about why the topic should be discussed, hinting at the reasons such conversations get so heated, divided and ultimately undecided. But really she wasn’t preaching tolerance and understanding, rather more of the “them and us” argument that overtakes, arguing that a ban on the burqa would send a clear message that, “Here all women are free and equal participants in our society. No woman need cover her face or hide her identity.”
Of course all women should be free and equal participants in all societies, but we need to be very clear that that is what we are arguing for and not using persuasive ideals to promote other agendas.
Over the past week – and indeed whenever this topic raises its head – there has been much made of “safety” – the dangers of women in burqas driving, or the risk to bank staff serving women in burqas, but to me this also seems like a diversion. You can question the issue of “choice”, the appropriateness or otherwise of displays of religiosity in a secular society, or modern interpretations of the Koran, but not to obfuscate underlying arguments driven by fear, racism or control.
And of course to call for a ban of anything is to create polarisation, rather than solid debate or understanding. As Reed Brody, European press director for Human Rights Watch, said in response to the Belgian legislation, "Bans like this do more harm than good".
Geraldine Brooks deals eloquently with the issue of veiling in Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women and summed it up aptly to me, “I wish politicians wouldn't keep trying to solve social problems through the bodies of women. Khomeini makes Iran look more Islamic overnight by ordering women into the veil, Belgium makes its immigration issues disappear overnight by ordering them out of it. No one wants to tackle the serious issues of underlying inequality. It's all so superficial and a real time waster and attention suck when the real issues are women's education, forced marriage and FGM. Let's see Belgium tackle those issues.” |
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| Comments |
| great article and well done Geraldine for giving such clarity to the real issues at play. |
| Posted by Georgie | 07 May 2010 |
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The safety issue is such malarkey. Have their been any bank robberies with burqas? Or is it just the most convenient excuse.
Belgium is clearly taking a step backwards. It's disappointing for one of Europe's more progressive nations. |
| Posted by Jeb | 07 May 2010 |
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Nice one! This is a great article and a fab quote from Geraldine: 'I wish politicians wouldn't keep trying to solve social problems through the bodies of women.' It's window dressing, isn't it?
This is an excellent overview of the current debate, which I have to admit I wasn't aware of (shame) - or at least, not of its recent incarnation. |
| Posted by Jo C | 08 May 2010 |
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