WUNRN
Egypt – Veil or No Veil, Women often Stigmatised, Harassed, or
Worse
Calls for women to take off their veils at a demonstration in
Cairo initiated debate over Islamic attire for women in Egypt.
A photo that went viral on social media of Nehal Kamal, a girl
who claims she was assaulted when she decided to take off her Islamic veil
(Photo: A public Facebook post)
Previous Article – 21 April - http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/4/0/128290/Opinion/0/Women-with-or-without-headscarves-should-be-accept.aspx
WOMEN
WITH OR WITHOUT HEADSCARVES SHOULD BE ACCEPTED & RESPECTED IN EGYPT
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Sherif Tarek
- 28 Apr 2015
After spending one year living in Cairo, Muslim teenager Sara
decided to adopt the Islamic veil, dressing modestly to show only her face and
the palms of her hands in public as per mainstream Islamic teachings for women.
She was
not following her religious beliefs by wearing the hijab, but rather succumbing
to social pressure and seeking to avoid recurrent harassment.
Sara had
visited Cairo beforehand. But when she began living there in 2001, she says,
she experienced the predicament of being a woman in the huge city, both with
and without the hijab.
"Getting
groped or touched by sexual harassers would happen on average once a
month," recalls Sara, the daughter of an Egyptian mother and a Moroccan
father who was born and raised in Kuwait.
"Verbal
harassment, that's all the time. Not a day would go by without hearing comments
whether from people flirting with me, hurling sexual insults at me, criticising
or even cursing me for the way I dress.
"Many
people would think women in Kuwait, as a Gulf country, have less freedom than
in Egypt. As a matter of fact it's completely the opposite," says Sara,
who speaks Egyptian Arabic almost perfectly.
Sara
moved to Cairo to join the English section of the linguistics faculty at Ain
Shams University. She first started to feel the differences between both
countries' norms on campus.
"In
my early days, I once went to the university in shorts. I was playing
basketball at the time and shorts were just the most practical and convenient
[thing]. I was denied entry at the gate by security personnel."
The hijab
became increasingly common among the working classes in Egypt from the 1970s.
In the
early 2000s, thanks to rhetoric from Islamic preacher Amr Khaled, who was
massively popular at the time among the youth, many girls from upper and middle
classes opted to be veiled as well.
The
harassment Sara was subject to was not always sexual, she says, but some also
came from people – mainly female colleagues – who were not happy with the fact
that she was Muslim and not veiled.
"I
was once in the mosque of the university reading the Quran during the holy
month of Ramadan, and then a girl congratulated me on 'converting to Islam.'
"Most
people thought I was Christian because I was not veiled like the majority of
Muslim girls in Cairo, and also because most of my university friends were
Copts.
"Many
veiled girls who found out I'm Muslim would persistently ask me to wear the
hijab. Their concern about my religion, my beliefs or how I dressed baffled me
and was really annoying."
Sara wore
the veil for five years. But the headscarf gave her little respite throughout
the remainder of her time in Cairo, and she took it off following her departure.
"It
was primarily to protect myself from sexual harassment, but the hijab barely
made a difference. Harassers would approach me anyway, though I lived in the
upper class district of Maadi," she says.
"I
also still found people who would express dismay at my hijab, for not wearing a
longer shirt or whatever. I would still hear comments from people who gave
themselves the right to judge me.
"I
took it off after I returned to Kuwait, where I can afford my penchant for
wearing what I want. My father always told me I would eventually do that
because he knew I never really wanted to be veiled.
"Sexual
harassment could be the reason why a girl would wear the veil in Egypt, even
today, I believe. I have visited Cairo several times in recent years and I see
that sexual harassment is rampant.
"Also
during my university days the hijab was trending; another reason why I became
veiled. My cousin at the time made the same decision and that encouraged
me."
Social
pressure and calls to wear the Islamic veil further increased after the 2011
uprising, which saw longstanding autocrat Hosni Mubarak toppled and Islamist
forces come to power.
In the
years that followed the uprising, Islamist forces dominated the first
post-Mubarak parliament and helped Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim
Brotherhood, win the 2012 presidential poll.
At the
same time, calls to "Islamise" Egypt became common on
Islamist-leaning media outlets and from well-known clerics.
Flip side
of coin
Morsi's
ouster in July 2013 after nationwide mass protests against his rule, and the
ensuing crackdown on Islamists and much of their media, have ended that
rhetoric, paving the way for secular voices.
Writer
Cherif Choubachy recently called for a demonstration in which veiled women
would take off their headscarves, arguing that the hijab is the result of
oppression and backwardness.
His
proposed protest stirred up controversy, with some voicing support and others
objecting to the call. There has still been no confirmation that any such rally
will actually be staged.
Although
she felt she was obliged to wear the hijab, Sara says she would not have taken
part in such a demonstration had it taken place in Cairo when she was still
veiled.
"If
this is what I think, I shouldn't impose my opinion on the public," says Sara,
who now works as a simultaneous interpreter and lives with her husband in New
York.
"I
can't really imagine a protest taking place in New York against a certain
attire, though there are a lot more freedoms here.
"Right
before I took off the hijab my application for a job at an international
organisation was turned down in Kuwait. The official reason for the rejection
was the veil. I was really upset."
While
this is arguably a form of discrimination against veiled women, it is clearly
discrimination to prevent them from entering public places.
In Egypt,
it is common to prohibit veiled women from entering night clubs and pubs. Since
last year, an increasing number of veiled women were reported to have been
denied entry to restaurants as well.
One of
the cases that created a fuss was that of Heba Arnaout, a professor of
microbiology in her 50s who has been veiled for many years.
Going to
a restaurant and bar in Cairo's upscale district of Zamalek late in December,
she says she was asked to leave with her husband and foreign friends because
she was wearing the hijab.
They got
a table after threatening to go to the police and file a report against what
she and her husband described as an encroachment on her civil and
constitutional rights.
"Places
like that, if they dare, should put a sign outside saying 'veiled women are not
welcome.' Like when hotels would put a sign reading 'no pets allowed,'"
Arnaout says.
"My
only interpretation of what happened is that it's a form of religious
discrimination. I understand if certain places have a dress code, like the
Opera House for example. But that's not the case.
"What
if I was wearing a hat? Or from a country where they wrap their heads in a
traditional way and not for religious reasons? Will I still be given that
attitude? The answer is probably not.
"Having
a dress code and specifically preventing the Islamic veil are two different
things. When we were arguing they told me they serve alcohol, as if they should
decide for me if I should drink or not.
"A
woman could be wearing the hijab only because she has cancer. Another could be
wearing it and not praying, or drinking alcohol; not all veiled women are
devout. In all cases it's none of their business."
Similarly,
Choubachy has unilaterally decided to talk on behalf of veiled women and
express what he thinks is best for them, Arnaout says.
"I
understand that people have the right to express their opinions. A writer would
produce an op-ed for instance, but you don't get to tell people what to do.
It's my choice whether to wear the hijab or not."
But how
often is it a matter of choice?
'Put on
what people like,' or else
In Egypt,
women are not usually free to wear what they want, states Dalia Abd El-Hameed,
Gender and Women's Rights Officer at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal
Rights (EIPR)*.
"For
instance, an upper-class lady could be given hard time for wearing a veil
because it's not very suitable for her social circles. That happens a lot and
could affect the way a woman wants to dress.
"On
the other hand, girls in rundown districts after a certain age would have to
wear the hijab as per communal traditions. If not, she could suffer dire
consequences in school, at home, or in the street.
"Women
are not free to wear what they want and I'm glad this topic is brought to
public discussion these days," Dalia opines, seeing the debate around the
hijab as an impetus to female emancipation.
"Many
factors control how women dress in Egypt," she explains. "Social
class, workplaces, places of residence, families, among other elements affect
how a woman dresses.
"These
are layers of authority imposed on women's bodies, and that makes talking about
how free women are to dress how they want relatively meaningless.
"In
some cases, physical violence could be the price of challenging these
authorities."
A photo of a young woman with a
swollen eye and bruises on her cheek went viral on social media on Monday. She
was allegedly assaulted for taking off her hijab three months ago.
A
Facebook account named Nehal Kamal, the girl in the photo, says the injuries
were the price of taking off the veil. She did not go through details and was
not available for further comment.
"The
one who wants to take off [the hijab] is not as untroubled as the one who wants
to put [it] on," says Nehal, who identifies herself on Facebook as an
interior designer, vocalist and actress.
"This
is part of what happened to me when I decided to take off the hijab and only
today [Monday] I felt enough courage to post this photo," she says in the
public post.
In a
later post, she explains that she uploaded the photo because "lately there
was a mass call to take off the veil."
Many
people reacted by saying every woman can just wear or not wear what she wants,
Nehal goes on, "as if we live in a country that backs freedoms... as if
whoever takes off the veil would live in peace."
"People
need to know what we're living in our country and that there is no human, a boy
or a girl, who does what they want."
A proverb
saying "eat what you like, and put on what people like"
sheds light on how judgmental Egyptian society can be when it comes to
appearance, says Samia Kadri, a sociology professor.
"The
old Egyptian proverb simply means people here have for long cared about
appearance more than what's inside," she says, stressing that non-veiled
women get the lion's share of prejudice.
Since the
1970s, women's veils started to become familiar in Egypt, "primarily due
to strong religious rhetoric, and mass migration to Gulf countries that
resulted in some of their traditions being brought back home."
"Now,
maybe around five percent of women in Egypt are not veiled. That makes them out
of the norm and, consequently in a society like ours, more prone to harassment
and discrimination.
"There
is a notable lack of morals. Thus many people, whether sexual harassers or
conservative individuals, wouldn't hesitate to stigmatise women in different
ways for how they dress," Samia says.
"It
will take decades to have a society that accepts differences in Egypt, if that
will ever happen. Media and education, among a myriad of other elements, would
be involved in such a transformation."
Next to
social pressure, political affiliations could be an extra burden for women,
Dalia elaborates.
"EIPR
observed cases where veiled Syrian women were physically attacked, insulted and
kicked out of public microbuses because people recognised their nationality
through their distinct hijab."
Many
people who oppose ousted president Morsi believe Syrians in Egypt, who are in
the many thousands thanks to the civil war in Syria, were supporting him and
opposed his toppling.
"We
also got reports that face-veiled women [who are usually ultra-conservative and
of Islamist affiliations] were attacked by anti-Islamists individuals,"
Dalia continues.
"On
the other hand, we had reports of women who were attacked by Islamists for not
wearing the hijab; it goes both ways."
In
general, there is a widespread notion that women are bearers of the national
identity and should dress accordingly, Dalia says.
"Veiled
women from the Brotherhood always stress the way they dress expresses the
Islamic identity of the country. Some liberal women would think they support
secularism by doing the opposite.
"Women need to be free of that notion and realise they only
represent themselves. No one asks men not to wear trousers and put on
traditional attire for the sake of the country's identity."