Muslim women in Canada say they choose to wear the niqab out of religious obligation and as an expression of their identity, but are flexible about uncovering their faces in specific circumstances, a recent survey found. A majority of the women included in a Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) report agreed that in certain instances it would be necessary to lift their face coverings, including when going through airport security, accessing health services, or driving.

A debate over the niqab has swirled since Zunera Ishaq launched a legal challenge against Ottawa's niqab ban at citizenship oath-taking ceremonies. ( Vince Talotta / Toronto Star )

“Probably the main takeaway of that is that all the people we talked to were very anxious to emphasize that they could be flexible. Clearly they do have boundaries . . . but what they wanted to emphasize is ‘yes, I could lift this, I could do that, that’s fine,’” said Lynda Clarke, the report’s author and a professor of religion at Concordia University in Montreal. “We didn’t want to go out and save women or correct misconceptions or anything else. It was scholarly research,” Clarke said. A niqab is a face and hair veil that leaves only the area around a woman’s eyes visible. It differs from a hijab, which covers a woman’s hair and ears, and a burqa, which covers the full head and body.

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For the report, 38 women responded to online surveys, 35 participated in focus groups in Mississauga, Montreal, Ottawa and Waterloo, and eight conducted more extensive, individual interviews.

But since the sample size was small, and no firm numbers exist on the total number of women who wear a niqab in Canada, the results “should be understood to be tentative indications only,” the report said. Most women surveyed online said they wore a niqab out of religious obligation or as an expression of their Muslim identity. Other answers included encouragement from their spouse or friends, setting an example for their children, comfort, and religious pilgrimage. None of the women said they were forced to wear the niqab, or were encouraged by a family member — excluding spouses. “I think if a woman wants to wear niqab, she should be allowed to do it. Most of them are not actually asking for anything more, and if they were asked, they would show their face for identification purposes,” one woman said in the report.

A majority of the women were foreign-born Canadian citizens or permanent residents in their 20s or early 30s. Most were married housewives, and 85 per cent had household incomes below the national average. Most also said they began wearing the niqab after they arrived in Canada.

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According to Clarke, the report shows that a compromise is possible. “Out of this small group, a large part of them . . . have a very positive attitude, (and) are quite accommodating. This is something that one can work with and build on, rather than initiating conflict,” she said. Earlier this week, Stephen Harper said that the niqab was “rooted in a culture that is anti-women.” The statement prompted questions and condemnation from opposition parties, and ridicule on social media, as users took up the hashtag #dresscodePM to ask the prime minister if their clothing choices were appropriate. In 2011, the government barred the niqab from citizenship ceremonies. Last month, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the decision was “unlawful,” and ordered Ottawa to lift the ban. A recent University of Michigan survey asked people in six Muslim-majority countries across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia to choose how they preferred women to dress in public. A woman covering her hair and ears in public, but not her face, was the preferred option, chosen by 55 per cent of people in Tunisia, 52 per cent in Egypt, 46 per cent in Turkey, 44 per cent in Iraq, 32 per cent in Lebanon, and 24 per cent in Pakistan. Saudi Arabia was the only country to overwhelmingly choose the niqab as the best clothing option for women, at 63 per cent. Forty-nine per cent of respondents in Lebanon, 32 per cent of Turks, and 15 per cent of Tunisians said it was preferable for women to be uncovered completely. High percentages of people in Tunisia (56 per cent), Turkey (52 per cent), Lebanon (49 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (47 per cent) also said it should be up to women to decide what to wear.

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