Freedom of religion is often something that is taken for granted in today’s society. Christians go to church every Sunday and Jewish people go to the synagogue as they please. Muslim people have also had these privileges here in the U.S., but women, in particular, have faced a lot of discrimination and prejudice because of their religion and religious attire. This blog post will be focusing on the discrimination and injustice towards women in hijabs in the U.S., Afghanistan, and Iran.
United States of America
After 9/11 the amount of prejudice and discrimination that Muslim women faced increased significantly. Since Americans were still recovering from the fear caused by the attacks that occurred on that day, many Muslim women and girls were seen as a threat or as terrorists. One example of this is Shahana Hanif. When she was
just 10 years old, after the 9/11 attacks, a man passing by in a car spat at Shahana and her sister and called them terrorists while they were walking to their local mosque. Another type of discrimination faced by Muslim women was the denial to wear headscarves in places like their work, school, public places like shopping malls and stores, and in “law enforcement contexts,” as stated in an ACLU “Women Rights Project” article. Many times, women were either fired from their jobs, verbally and/or physically harassed, or denied entry to certain places if they refused to remove their hijab.
Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, a predominantly Islamic country, the Taliban have enforced strict rules on the rights of women who wear hijabs and women in general. As of May 2022, all “respectable” women in Afghanistan are required 
to wear a hijab or a headscarf. Any hijab that covers a woman from head to toe, like the Chadori and the Burqa, is considered acceptable, but it can’t be too tight or too sheer. According to the Aljazeera article “Afghan women deplore Taliban’s new order to cover faces in public,” “If a woman is caught without a hijab, her mahram (a male guardian) will be warned. The second time, the guardian will be summoned [by Taliban officials], and after the repeated summons, her guardian will be imprisoned for three days.” This decree was also followed by other decrees limiting Afghan women’s rights to education, work, and freedom of movement. It recommends that women refrain from leaving their households to prevent violating the recently imposed dress code. One woman named Marzia, a professor from Kabul, spoke out and said, “Why have they reduced women to [an] object that is being sexualized? I am a practicing Muslim and value what Islam has taught me. If, as Muslim men, they have a problem with my hijab, then they should observe their hijab and lower their gaze.” Marzia changed her name before stating this, however, in fear that she might be discovered and punished by the Taliban for speaking out against their rule.
Iran
Similar to Afghanistan, women in Iran have been protesting by refusing to wear their hijabs in public and staging marches to fight for women’s rights and raise awareness of the conditions in which Muslim women
have been living. On September 16, 2022, 22-year-old Masha Amini was reported dead in a hospital after being arrested by Iran’s religious morality police for not wearing her hijab “properly.” Masha’s death sparked a series of protests where women have been seen removing their hijabs or publicly cutting their hair off. People have also been taking to social media in an attempt to raise awareness of these events. Around 304 people have been killed by security forces as a result of these protests. Like in Afghanistan, women must wear a hijab when in public or when not around their immediate family. To ensure that women are wearing their hijabs properly, there are Morality police who would fine or arrest women who were violating the dress code. As of 2017, women could not be detained for any misuse of their hijabs (this includes showing hair or not wearing it at all) but they would be required to attend “Islam education classes.” Today, women in Iran have been risking their lives in attempts to improve these unfair laws and the lives of women all over the country.
I believe that the dress code of Muslim women should not be dictated by a man in power. I think that they should be able to wear whatever hijab they want whenever they want to. As Marzia mentioned, if these women are practicing Muslims and truly value their religion, then why should a man worry about the type of religious attire they decide to wear? Also, these women shouldn’t have to fear for their lives just for speaking their minds or worry about being harassed just for walking home. These women deserve so much better which is why I believe that people should begin to take action to help these women get their freedom.
How can geography affect discrimination toward marginalized groups?
What can we do to help prevent these issues?
Citations
Press, The Associated. “Muslim Americans Still Facing Discrimination 20 Years after 9/11.” NBC News, 7 Sept. 2021, www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/muslim-americans-still-facing-discrimination-20-years-911-rcna1915.
Notwithstanding Legal Protections, Muslim Women Who Wear Hijab Sometimes Face Infringements on Their Rights. 2008.
Noori, Ruchi Kumar, Hikmat. “Afghan Women Deplore Taliban’s New Order to Cover Faces in Public.” Www.aljazeera.com, 8 May 2022, www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/8/taliban-make-burqa-mandatory-for-afghan-women.
“How the Taliban’s Hijab Decree Defies Islam.” United States Institute of Peace, www.usip.org/publications/2022/05/how-talibans-hijab-decree-defies-islam#:~:text=The%20Taliban%20continued%20this%20week. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.
“Death of Mahsa Amini.” Wikipedia, 23 Sept. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Mahsa_Amini.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights_in_Iran#Hijab