The Niqab in Canada: Now What?
Panel Discussion and Public Conversation
It has been called oppressive, ultra-religious, a barrier, even a threat to public safety.
Niqab-wearing women in public get stared at, harassed and, at times, physically assaulted by total strangers. In the meantime, many Muslims vehemently oppose the
niqab and claim it is not a religious requirement, rather a cultural, patriarchal vestige from times gone by. Some politicians found in it the mother of all wedge issues.
No one is indifferent about the niqab.
Regardless, niqab-wearing women are in Canada – and they have rights.
What does the future hold for them?
Will they integrate?
Will they be accepted?
- “My face, my life, my reality.” Aima Warriach, Ryerson student
- “The niqab, legally speaking.” Faisal Bhabha, Associate professor, Osgoode Hall law School
- “Now What?” Huda Bukhari, EC, The Arab Community Centre of Toronto
- “Women’s clothing in a historical perspective.” Dr. Pamela Divinsky, Mosaic Institute
- “It isnt innocuous, is it?” Alia Hogben, ED, Canadian Council of Muslim Women
- Moderated by Raja Khouri, co-founder and first president, Canadian Arab Institute, and former Ontario human rights commissioner.