„Since the security crisis that was started by the extremist group known as the Islamic State, attitudes toward the niqab have changed. Once considered by many as an invaluable symbol of a woman’s honour and dignity, it is now being seen with suspicion and fear and even considered an annoyance. (…) Since the group has been pushed out of Anbar though, their plan to popularize the niqab has backfired somewhat. In Anbar today there appears to be a backlash against the full-face and body covering.
‚When I left Fallujah after it was liberated from the terrorists, I felt like I had left two prisons,‘ says one local woman who wished to be known only as Umm Nasir, or the mother of Nasir. ‚The first prison was the city, where women, men and children all suffered equally. The second prison was inside the black fabric we women were forced to wear. We all looked the same. No one could be distinguished from another.‘ (…)
In some areas Iraqis have become downright suspicious of anyone wearing the niqab, whether justified or not. Many locals suspect that the full-face covering is now used by immoral women who do not want to be identified and there are also plenty of stories of fugitive males, often from the IS group, who have disguised themselves as female, in a niqab, in order to escape justice. Anybody traveling in Iraq has to pass through literally dozens of security checkpoints and at each one, everyone must be able to be identified – this includes women wearing full-face veils. Niqab wearers are often scrutinized more heavily and harassed more about their identification papers than those who are not wearing the all-covering garment. (…)
‚When I see a woman wearing a niqab get in the car, I do feel a little bad,‘ admits Mustafa al-Dulaimi, a Baghdad taxi driver. ‚Because I know the trip will take longer because of tougher security. Niqabs have a negative impact on my work. So I usually try and convince the female passenger to remove her full face veil so we can just drive through. But they usually refuse.‘“
(Kamal al-Ayash: „No More Niqab: As Extremists Leave Anbar, Backlash Begins Against Full Face Veils“.)
