By Rawdah Mohamed
I want to take this opportunity to share the real people that will be effected by this ban and the impact it will have on Muslim Women. I refuse to let this pass down without speaking up, it is the very least we can do for ourselves and each other. We are not alone. Please share your stories!
I strongly believe the only antidote of hate crime is activism. Many governments have been on the wrong side of liberation and equality before. It is our duty as the people stand up and fight for each other´s rights. The Hijab ban is hateful rhetoric coming from the highest level of government and will go down as an enormous failure of religious values and equality.
When I was 8 years old I was called into a meeting with my teachers. They were discussing ways to end the bullying I was subjected to by my classmates. Their solution was that I shouldn´t wear the hijab to school. Sitting in a room full of adults discussing my body and what I could and couldn´t wear as a young girl left more scarring than the bullying itself. I have never felt so stripped off my rights, I’ve never felt so belittled. They reduced me to nothing. The bullying intensified and went from being verbal to physical. They would assault me and take off my hijab so often that I had to bring an extra hijab for the times the boys would take it and refuse to give it back. Another time my teacher confiscated my hijab because it disturbed the lesson. The boys kept taking if off of me and throwing it between themselves like a ball around the class. I had to pay the price for their mischievous behavior. (don´t worry I pretended to cry and went out the hallway to set off the fire alarm, who´s disturbing the class now?).
I have lost count of the many times I was rejected for a job because of my hijab and not because of my lack of skill. The many times French clients share their worries about booking someone who looks like me while assuring me they are support of me and their love me. it is bittersweet as I very much love French fashion and what it has contributed to my life. The clients who are not at fault for their hostile society against Muslim Women. We all lose.