Category Archives: Hijab

Norway: hijab permitted with police uniform

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Norwegian policeThe Police Directorate has decided that it will be permitted to wear hijab with the Norwegian police uniform.

Police Director Ingelin Killengreen says the move is part of a desire to secure broad recruitment. Killengren points to the fact that among new immigrants there is a large number of women who for religious reasons wear hijab.

“By refusing to allow these to wear their headdress, we would in reality exclude in particular these groups from serving in the police force,” the Police Director says.

“The police depend on trust to create security and prevent and fight crime. It is therefore important that all parts of our society should feel equal in their relations with the police,” she says.

The head of the Policemen’s Union. Arne Johannessen, is surprised and disappointed by the decision: “We have police force which is supposed to symbolize neutrality while in uniform,” Johanessen says.

Norway Post, 5 February 2009

See also the AFP report which quotes Per-Willy Amundsen of the laughably misnamed Progress Party (formerly bankrolled by the South African apartheid regime) ranting on about the Islamisation of Norway.

California Muslim denied service at bank over hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Amal HersiA woman who wore an Islamic head scarf to a local bank said she was turned away and singled out, and is a victim of discrimination. Amal Hersi and her family moved to the U.S. from Somalia in search of freedom. Hersi said she’s had the freedom she’s wanted, up until last Saturday. “I felt like a criminal. I felt humiliated. I fell ashamed,” said Hersi.

Hersi said she was waiting in line at the Navy Federal Credit Union in Mission Valley when she said she was stopped by an employee. “So she goes, ‘Ma’am, could you follow me?’ And at that point I was like what did I do wrong?” said Hersi. Hersi said the reason was because she wore a traditional Muslim scarf.

Even after telling the employee she wore the scarf for religious reasons, she was asked to remove it. She compares herself to any other person wearing a garment, like a Jewish man wearing a Yarmulke or a Catholic nun wearing a habit.

Many banks have policies like this in order to deter bank robbers, a representative from the Navy Federal Credit Union said. “In the interest of security and safety for our members and employees, hats, hoods and sunglasses must be removed when entering the branch office,” Navy Federal Credit Union said in a statement.

10News.com, 2 February 2009

Netherlands: doctor turns away woman wearing veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

On Christmas day, a family doctor in Utrecht refused to allow a woman into his surgery because she was wearing a niqab, or burqa. The 23-year-old woman had brought her baby to see the doctor. The three-month-old child had diarrhoea and had not drunk for several hours, a situation which is potentially dangerous in young baby. However, the doctor refused to see the woman because she was wearing Islamic dress, with her face covered.

The Equal Treatment Commission confirmed it has received a complaint from the woman, following a report in the newspaper AD. A spokesperson said the commission would definitely be dealing with the complaint, as a GP provides a service and should not refuse to see a woman on the ground of her religious expression. According to the commission this is the first time such a case has been reported. The woman has also lodged a complaint with the GP’s practice and the medical disciplinary tribunal.

Radio Netherlands, 29 December 2009

Odense: hospital workers want headscarf ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

OUHA headscarf is a religious-political symbol that doesn’t belong in a hospital, where the patients want to be met by neutral professionals, say a group of workers at Odense University Hospital (OUH), in Denmark, which include nurses, nursing assistants and healthcare assistants.

In the past few months they’re attempted to raise the issue about the headscarf in the workplace in the hospital’s personnel journal, Fokus, reports Kristeligt Dagblad.

“When people put on their uniform, it means that the person should be in the background. I saw several patients who feel that it’s offensive and provoking that the personnel’s political and religious convictions are being thrust upon them,” says one of those who raised the issue, nurse Rachel Adelberg Johansen.

“We’re not saying that people can’t be Muslim, Jewish or Christian. We just think that people should remove religious symbols from their professional life,” says Rachel Adelberg Johansen. She additionally emphasizes that the group of workers comes from all over the political spectrum.

The uniform committee at Odense University Hospital hasn’t considered banning the headscarf. “For us it’s about whether hygiene is ok, and whether people do their job,” says human resource head Frits Pedersen.

Islam in Europe, 18 January 2009

Australian retail lobby slams call for hijab shop ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A national retail lobby boss has taken a swipe at Queensland retailers for backing calls to ban Muslim women wearing traditional hijabs in shops.

The state’s retail association came out in support of Brisbane’s 4BC radio presenter Michael Smith after he claimed on Wednesday that wearing the hijab or burqa posed a security risk. The Queensland body says the ban should be in line with riders being forced to remove their helmets when entering a store or bank.

But the National Retailers Association, which has no association with the Queensland organisation, has rejected calls for the ban. “I think it’s a bit of dog whistle,” executive director Richard Evans told ABC Radio, adding there was no evidence to support claims the wearing of hijabs was a security concern for shopkeepers.

He accused the Queensland retail group of trying to categorise a certain group of women and create fear among them. “It’s outrageous, to be honest with you, absolutely outrageous. It diminishes not only those folks who wear those outfits, but diminishes all of us.”

AAP, 16 January 2009

Australia – groups say veil ban unlawful, unfairly targets Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Shopkeepers are demanding sunglasses, baseball caps and religious face veils be banned to guard against criminals trying to hide their identities.

The Queensland Retailers Association yesterday declared its members should have the right to ban customers from wearing any clothing that obscured faces. But the proposed ban has outraged civil libertarians, Islamic groups and Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Commission. They say the move would be unlawful and unfairly target Muslims and teenagers.

QRA executive director Scott Driscoll said retailers were increasingly concerned they could not identify robbers and thugs whose faces were hidden by headgear. “This is about ensuring a more safe and secure retail environment for all and being able to readily identify any and all perpetrators of armed holdups or shop theft,” he said.

But critics – including federal Labor MP Graham Perrett, who represents the multicultural electorate of Moreton in Brisbane’s south – attacked Mr Driscoll’s call as unfounded and unnecessary. “Kids in hoodies, Muslim women wearing face veils, they are simply not an issue for the retailers I speak to,” Mr Perrett said.

Queensland police have no record of any robbery committed by a person wearing a Muslim face veil.

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Aussie radio announcer accused of anti-Islamic remarks over hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

4BC RadioA Brisbane radio station may have to explain why it should keep its licence after an announcer was accused of making anti-Islamic comments.

Former Victorian police officer, now 4BC drive-time announcer, Michael Smith called for Muslim women who wear an Islamic hijab in public to be fined for offensive behaviour. He made the remarks on-air and on the 4BC website, saying: “Any reasonable person would find this offensive.” Islamic Council of Queensland president Suliman Sabdia said Mr Smith’s remarks amounted to “a clear case of intolerance”.

Under the Commercial Radio Code of Practice, a licensee must not broadcast a program likely to incite hatred against or vilify any person or group on the basis of age, ethnicity, nationality, race, gender, sexual preference, religion, or disability. Christine Donnelly from the Australian Communications and Media Authority said Mr Smith’s comments could be a breach of the Code of Practice.

4BC general manager David McDonald said Mr Smith’s remarks were not intended to be anti-religion or anti-Muslim.

Courier-Mail, 14 January 2009

Update:  See also “Retailers back shock jock Michael Smith’s call for hijab ban” at News.com.au, which reports:

“A radio announcer’s call for a ban on Islamic hijabs has been backed by the Retailers Association. The body has called for all hijabs, helmets and hoodies to be banned in shops and banks for security purposes…. Retailers association executive directorScott Driscoll said it had been a long accepted practice to require customers to remove helmets and other identity obscuring headwear when entering a shop or bank. ‘Retailers should not have to fear any form of retribution or backlash for requiring the removal of any obscuring headwear, including hijabs, as a condition of entry’, Mr Driscoll said.”

Police to get training after head-scarf wearer’s arrest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

DOUGLASVILLE, Georgia — The Douglasville Police Department said Monday its officers will undergo “sensitivity and cultural diversity training” after a Muslim woman who refused to remove her head scarf at a courthouse was jailed. “We never want this to happen again. It’s not our intent to embarrass anybody,” Police Chief Joe Whisenant said at a news conference. The judge who had the woman jailed briefly for contempt of court will also take part in the training, Whisenant said.

CNN, 23 December 2008

US Muslims jailed for failing to remove hijab in court

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lisa ValentineA Douglasville woman was jailed Tuesday after a judge found her in contempt of court for refusing to remove her hijab, the head covering worn by Muslim women.

Lisa Valentine, also known by her Islamic name, Miedah, 40, was arrested at the Douglasville Municipal Court for violating a court policy of no headgear, said Chris Womack, deputy chief of operations for the Douglasville police. Judge Keith Rollins ordered her held in jail for 10 days, but she was released Tuesday evening. The reason for the early release wasn’t immediately clear. “It was very humiliating, degrading,” Valentine said from her home Tuesday evening. “I wear my hijab faithfully and for no reason I was asked to take it off. It was unreal.”

Other Muslim women said the same judge has ordered them to remove their hijabs. Sabreen Abdul Rahman, 55, said she was asked to take off her scarf when she went to the municipal court last week with her son. “I can’t. I’m Muslim,” she mouthed silently to the bailiff, who then removed her from the courtroom, Rahman said. “This is a religious right,” she said. Halimah Abdullah, 43, said she spent 24 hours in jail in November 2007 after Rollins held her in contempt of court for refusing to remove her head covering. Rollins could not be reached for comment.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 17 December 2008

See also CAIR press release, 16 December 2008

Update:  See Selene Kaye’s post on the ACLU blog, “A call to action for women of all beliefs“.