Quebec firm on hijab ban

Quebec firm on hijab ban for prison guards

Thu. Mar. 15 2007 11:09 PM ET

A Quebec woman who was forced to choose between her hijab and her career is considering taking her case to the Human Rights Commission.

Sondos Abdelatif, 19, was given the ultimatum to withdraw from a training session at Montreal’s Bordeaux Detention Centre or remove her headscarf.

Quebec’s Public Safety Department is standing behind its decision to ban the hijab. The ministry, which is in charge of Corrections Services, said a headscarf could act as a strangulation device should hostile prisoners attack a guard while on patrol.

However, Abdelatif says if her headscarf was a problem, officials should have notified her sooner.

Abdelatif applied to become a corrections officer in November of last year. Her application included a complete portfolio with photos of her wearing a headscarf and there were no questions asked about her hijab at the time.

“I had my veil on and you could clearly see that I had my veil on,” Abdelatif told CTV Montreal on Thursday.

Abdelatif completed her initial examination and was a week into her training before officials at the Bordeaux Detention Centre confronted her with the ultimatum.

“They just told me you either take it off, or you can’t work here,” Abdelatif said.

“It was kind of like they were telling me that I had nothing to offer, that I was good for nothing.”

Female guards are required to wear their hair tied back and abstain from wearing ties, but there is no mention of hijabs in the prison’s uniform policy.

According to Canadian and provincial correctional authorities, this is the first time that a woman who observes the Muslim custom has wanted to become a corrections officer in the province.

Abdelatif is upset she will not be given the chance to fulfill her career aspirations.

“I liked it a lot. I figured out that’s what I want to do with my life,” said Abdelatif.

She said she would like to have an open dialogue with the prison and the Public Safety Department before she takes her case to the Human Rights Commission.

Sarah Elgazzar, a spokesperson for the Canadian Council on American Muslim Relations, said the ministry should be willing to compromise.

“If there were security concerns they should have addressed the security concerns,” Elgazzar told CTV Montreal.

“They should have said, ‘Hey, look we’re worried about you. We have your best interest in mind, is there a way that you can do this without endangering yourself?’”

Elgazzar reiterated there are specifically designed hijabs used by the Canadian armed forces that could be a compromise to this situation.

A spokesperson from the Public Safety Department said they are not considering alternatives to the ultimatum.

This recent incident has further fueled the debate about reasonable accommodation for minorities within Quebec.

An 11-year-old Ottawa girl was ejected from a soccer game in Quebec after she refused to remove her headscarf during the game in February.

The small town of Herouxville drew international attention when it adopted a declaration of “norms” that tells immigrants how to fit in and forbids face coverings other than on Halloween.

In Montreal, men were banned from pre-natal classes at one Montreal community centre to accommodate Muslim, Sikh and Hindu women.

With files from the Canadian Press and a report by CTV Montreal’s Tania Krywiak.

CTV 

Muslims grumble at Canada football hijab ban

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian Muslims may launch a human rights complaint against football’s governing body after a Quebec referee ordered an 11-year-old girl to quit a tournament for refusing to remove her hijab.

The Canadian Council on American-Islam Relations said the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was sending a mixed message on its rules, given that its own Web site includes pictures of women wearing the hijab, a scarf that covers the head and neck.

“If FIFA does not provide a clear position on the right of women to wear the hijab in competition we will look at the possibility of filing a human rights complaint on behalf of Muslim women who want to play football, and not be persecuted for practising their beliefs,” said executive director Karl Nickner.

The 11-year-old girl, Asmahan Mansour, was ordered off the field by a Muslim referee during an indoor football tournament in the Montreal suburb of Laval, Quebec, on February 25 after refusing to remove her hijab.

FIFA spokesman Pekka Odriozola said it was up to regional and national associations to decide how to interpret football’s Law 4, which says a player must not “use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself/herself or another player”.

“But each match official must decide how to apply the rules,” he added.

The law, as displayed on FIFA’s Web site, also says “modern protective equipment such as headgear, facemasks, knee and arm protectors made of soft, lightweight, padded material are not considered to be dangerous and are therefore permitted,”

Odriozola could explain why the Web site included photos of players wearing the hijab.

“(The International Football Association Board) determined last weekend that anything related to players equipment is covered under Law 4 of the rules of the game,” he said. “In official matches the laws of the game have to be applied.”

That seems like foul play to Nickner of the Canadian Muslim group.

“FIFA backed the decision to support the Quebec referee in prohibiting a player from wearing the hijab,” he said. “Yet the FIFA Web site shows pictures of women players wearing a hijab.”

This is not the first incident involving football players ejected from a game for wearing religious headgear in Canada.

In 2005 a Sikh player was told to remove his patka head covering at a football tournament in Langley, British Columbia, prompting the cancellation of several games.

After that incident, the president of the B.C. Soccer Association said that there were no rules banning religious headgear from the sport.

Other Canadian provinces, including Ontario, also allow women players to wear the hijab.

Reuters UK