.... The niqab comes with heavy baggage. No country in the world where the niqab is common treats any woman or any non-Muslim as equals of Muslim men. Many women are forced to wear it, and they will not come forward to say so. So in supporting the feisty, free women who choose the niqab, we are abetting domestic abuse of hidden, silenced women.
Finally, the fact that only a small number of Muslim women in Canada choose to wear the niqab is a terrible argument for ignoring it, as Macfarlane advises. Rather, it is exactly the moment to nip the practice in the bud, at least in official transactional situations. A few women’s disappointment can be managed. But not the hostility of 10,000 women – and the men who are happy they wear it. [National Post] Read more
