In the previous couple of years I have lived in a majority Muslim country, Bangladesh, and traveled through Turkey and Egypt. I confess that before I had deep personal experiences with Islam as a religion, I may have thought banning the burqa could be a lesser evil for women’s empowerment than not banning the burqa.
But now I know, I was absolutely wrong.
For some women, banning the burqa would be the equivalent experience of forcing me to wear a bikini to the supermarket in Melbourne, or a mini skirt to work. And that is something I can never support, though this is not at all what the debate is about.
After watching this week’s Insight program, and reading the article The burqa mural, should it be painted over in The Punch, I am saddened by the intensity of the debate, by the fear, and by the underlying implications that burqa=Muslim=dangerous.
One of the most common reasons given on Insight for banning the burqa was security. It was argued that the burqa should be banned because it makes identification difficult, and that is a security risk.
My thoughts? It is not women in burqas I am worried about when I am walking home from the station at midnight. It’s not women in burqas I cross the road to avoid in dark streets. It is not women in burqas I was told to be wary of when being taught stranger danger.
I find it very hard to believe that crimes are being committed in any number statistically relevant for “security risk” to be a legitimate reason to outlaw the items of clothing a woman can wear outside her home. But even if is the women in burqas we need to be identifying, then there are very practical and easy ways around it - having female personnel available to make the idenitifcation when required.
This is how the rest of the world does it, and if Australia is serious about this as a security risk, then we need to be hiring women as security and law enforcement staff specifically for the purpose of identifying these women in burqas in situations where establishing identity is paramount.
The argument that banning the burqa because it infringes on the rights of women, and contributes to the oppression of women is much more complex, and has much more validity. As someone who has worked intensely on women’s empowerment issues, and women’s empowerment issues in a majority Muslim country, I feel I am in a better position than many Australians to offer my point of view, which is why I am weighing in on the debate.
Education, education, education, and I will say it one more time - education - is the key to women’s empowerment, not outlawing an item of clothing. Educating women and girls is the sole most important, influential and effective way of empowering women the world over.
The education of males is also a part of the picture, of course, but it’s not as effective as education females. It is education that will progress culture and education that will provide women with choice.
If I thought banning the burqa would lead to improvements in the lives of women, I would be all for it, but let’s be real - this is Australia. A law against a religious item of clothing worn by a very small minority of the Australian population, is much more likely to alienate women for whom wearing the burqa is an essential part of their religious and cultural identity.
It could force these women indoors, prevent them from participating in a society outside the household, and worst of all, make them feel persecuted against by a country that calls itself the lucky country, the country of the fair go.
Please, let’s not ban the burqa. Let’s not give in to fear and prejudice and bigotry. Let’s get serious about educating women and girls around the world. Let’s get serious about giving women the world over real choices.
Did you get this far? Then you should watch this video on ‘The girl effect.’
It was a Saturday, around midday, and I was catching the train into the city with a girlfriend. We were excited - I was on my way to a photo shoot for Cosmopolitan magazine’s “Real Women” project, and that was something different for me back then.
