‘Hijab issue is about our freedom’
 |
A student and busy mother-of-two
is giving up her spare time to launch a passionate fight for the rights
of Muslim women. |
Abeer
Pharaon (pictured), 35, from Nottingham, helped to form The Assembly for the
Protection of the Hijab this month in response to growing discrimination.
Abeer, chair of the UK Muslim Women’s Society, was
angered by the recent hijab ban in France and felt compelled to take action.
“The ban is spreading, and there is a lot of concern among British Muslims
about this issue. I saw the need for a campaign,” she told Eastern Eye. “I
am sacrificing my time because I cannot accept such a blatant attack on the
rights of Muslim women.”
The debate in Britain around Muslim dress has been on the rise since the
recent case of Bedfordshire schoolgirl Shabina Begum, who lost a court
battle to wear her jilbab to school. “Cases like Shabina’s made me realise
how little protection there is for such a fundamental human right. What a
woman wears - whether it is a hijab or a mini-skirt - is her own choice and
nobody has the right to take that choice away,” Abeer said. “As Muslims we
are proud of the hijab, we are not oppressed.” Although there are no moves
to outlaw hijabs in Britain, Abeer sees a “hidden” ban in practice for many
Muslim women.
“There are cases of discrimination in the workplace, in schools and in the
community that go on every day,” she said.
According to Shabana Khan, a solicitor and supporter of the campaign, the
law does not offer adequate protection for women who face discrimination.
“Employers cannot discriminate against religious practices in public bodies,
but this does not apply to private companies. We do not just need to change
the law, but to promote greater awareness and understanding of Islam,” she
said. “In the absence of proper protection, Muslim women in Britain must
condemn racism and raise the issue wherever they can. It is only through
effective lobbying that we are going to change things.”
Since the pro-hijab campaign began, Abeer, along with supporters from the
Muslim Association of Britain and groups from across Europe, organised a
conference, “Hijab: A Woman’s Right to Choose,” hosted by the Mayor of
London Ken Livingstone this month. At the conference, attended by groups
from 15 countries, Mr Livingstone backed the campaign, and warned the hijab
ban in France “marked a move towards religious intolerance, which we in
Europe swore never to repeat, having witnessed the devastating effects of
the Holocaust.”
Abeer is taking the campaign to the European Parliament in September, and is
currently lobbying MEPs to gain support.
An International Hijab Solidarity Day has also been set for 4 September, the
start of the school year in France, when groups in Britain and around the
world will hold a protest.
For Abeer, it is just the beginning a long struggle to be heard in a
negative climate of Islamophobia, but she remains undaunted.
“I feel passionately about this issue, and I am not going to be put off. If
Muslim women don’t stand up for themselves, nobody else will,” she said.
Source: Eastern Eye