Damned if She Does, Damned if She Doesn’t

Aminollah Sabzevari (LLM Candidate)

On November 21st, the Women’s Law Forum in association with Edmonton’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) screened Damned if She Does, Damned if She Doesn’t, a documentary film. The film revolves around two Muslim Canadian women, one who chooses to wear a hijab and one who chooses not to. For those unfamiliar with the terminology, a hijab covers a woman’s hair, while a niqab covers a woman’s face except for her eyes.

The film compares the freedom to choose your own attire in Canada to the legal enforcement of the hijab and niqab in Islamic countries and the legal restrictions in others. The film deftly highlighted each woman’s decision and some of the factors and reasoning involved.

Beth Wishart Mackenzie, the director, answered questions and led a group discussion at the screening. An issue raised in the film and during the discussion was whether Muslim women in Canada are truly free to choose. The main push to restrict the wearing of the hijab and niqab in the West is that it restricts women’s autonomy since it is imposed on them by their community. The interviewee who chose to wear the hijab, however, was of the position that her choice was autonomous.

A common theme during the film was the liberty and autonomy of Canadian women. Without significant evidence of a lack of ability to make autonomous choices, some rightfully find state control over dress in the West (although far less oppressive than in Muslim countries) to be troubling. It should not be sufficient to assume that women would not freely decide to wear the hijab or niqab.

Personally, I find the sight of the niqab to be quite unsettling. Someone in the audience mentioned the familiarly in the West with faces, and direct eye contact, and how the niqab conflicts with our cultural expectation to see each other’s faces. However, accepting the hijab and niqab in most situations is consistent with the tenets of free society. In a country that values personal liberty and multiculturalism, it would by hypocritical to ban religious dress. Multiculturalism is not just about accepting what is immediately pleasing and enjoyable from other individuals and other cultures. Multiculturalism includes tolerating choices of individuals as long as they do not violate the rights and freedoms of others.

There are situations where wearing the hijab or niqab might be restricted. For example, the recent decision of N.S. v. R (Ontario Court of Appeal) was discussed at the screening. Here, the court found there was no right to wear a niqab in court, since this right is overridden by the right of the accused to face his accuser. This case will be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada on December 11th and LEAF will be intervening on the behalf of N.S. Of particular concern in the group discussion and to LEAF was that the defence may be using the niqab issue to intimidate or degrade the complainant.