Supplied - Antoine TaveneauxIn recent weeks, controversy has brewed over whether women should be allowed to wear the traditional niqab during their public citizenship oaths. The current Conservative government has stood staunchly against it, with moves to officially ban these coverings during the citizenship ceremonies through legislation. But the justification for the government’s public opposition is a flawed one for the sake of Canadian women who choose to wear a niqab.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper claims the niqab is inherently rooted in a culture that’s “anti-women,” and he argues, in vague terms, that “most” Canadians oppose the wearing of face-coverings during these ceremonies. Others in his party voiced their support. Tory MP Larry Miller even went on to claim that those who wear the niqab should “stay where the hell they came from.” Although Miller apologized for his words, the slip of his aggressive tongue tells us that while the Conservative party may be justifying this stance on the basis of women’s rights, their actions are in fact misogynistic.
Instead of tackling issues relating to women, the Harper government has taken upon itself to attack women themselves. By placing a stigma on Muslim women who wear the niqab, the current Conservative figures further perpetuate the stereotype that Muslim women are suspicious, docile and oppressed by their sexist male counterparts. Oddly enough, even if this stereotype was the case, the solution the government provides is to further isolate these women by denying them their citizenship.
It may seem acceptable to dictate the niqab as anti-women due to its concealing nature. But it is not on those who are not Muslim women to make that judgment. That is not to say that oppression in relation to the niqab doesn’t exist. In fact, women are forced into that attire everyday. However, we must remain cognizant of the Islamophobic influences in our society that may drive our judgements on the issue.
The conversation surrounding Muslim women’s issues should be left to Muslim women themselves as opposed to others outside that circle. The Conservative government’s record on women’s rights is abysmal, considering their consistent disregard towards the high numbers of murdered and missing Aboriginal women, and the defunding of women’s centres and abortion clinics throughout the country. Yet in this case, the government cites “women’s rights” as a justification for such an extreme practice. Seemingly, the difference seems to be driven by xenophobic, and more specifically, Islamophobic agendas.
Women’s rights are conveniently used to cry foul and used as a driving factor of such policies, without even consulting Muslim women on what they deem to be oppressive and how they seek to solve such issues. But when it comes to reproductive health, national childcare programs, equal representation of women in parliament and the workplace, these women’s rights are ignored.
Women’s rights only makes its way out of the woodwork when it conveniently fits the conservative agenda. Otherwise, it remains on the back shelf as the Conservative government sits comfortably on the status quo, which includes the oppression of Canadian women.
