Ayaan Hirsi Ali says burqa debate about equality of women

Author, ex-politician and feminist critic of Islam Ayaan Hirsi Ali has waded into the burqa debate sparked by Pauline Hanson’s Senate stunt.

The Somali-born scholar – who once wore the burqa herself – says the debate over the controversial head-covering is about the equality of women.

While also calling Ms Hanson’s behaviour unparliamentary, she says the issue goes beyond the security point the Queensland senator was trying to make.

Her statements come after One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson (pictured) wore a burqa during Senate Question Time

Hirsi Ali says she is against the burqa and other Islamic veils (pictured), calling the idea that women should wear them ‘evil sexism’

‘Expecting half of humanity to go around covered in black sacks is just evil sexism,’ she wrote in The Australian. 

‘We should no more want to see it [the burqa] imported into Australia than we should want to see wife-beating legalised.’ 

Hirsi Ali, a former Dutch politician, says there are two main arguments used in favour of women wearing the burqa.

The first is religious, she says, and girls are indoctrinated into being modest and covering themselves up in line with religious teachings. 

Hirsi Ali (pictured) wore the burqa as a teenager and suffered female genital mutilation as a child

Ms Hanson (pictured, wearing an Islamic full-face covering) has called for the garment to be banned

The second is political and is backed with oil money from wealthy Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia who also fund Islamic extremism, she says.

Regardless of which reason is given for wearing the burqa, Hirsi Ali says she remains unconvinced.

‘Whether they are used to uphold the modesty doctrine demanded in sharia lite or are symbols of the hardcore sharia in political Islam, the burka and other veils represent for me an affirmation of women as chattel,’ she wrote.

Hirsi Ali used to wear the burqa herself as a teenager due to a desire to display her religious devotion and modesty, and suffered female genital mutilation as a child.

‘Whether they are used to uphold the modesty doctrine demanded in sharia lite or are symbols of the hardcore sharia in political Islam, the burka and other veils (pictured) represent for me an affirmation of women as chattel,’ Hirsi Ali wrote

‘We should no more want to see it [the burqa] imported into Australia than we should want to see wife-beating legalised,’ said Hirsi Ali (pictured)

Ms Hanson caused an uproar on Thursday when she entered the Australian Senate wearing a black burqa.

She said she wore the Islamic garment to trigger a debate on banning ‘oppressive’ full-face covering for security reasons. 

In a statement released on Wednesday, Senator Hanson said the burqa ‘presented barriers to assimilation’.

She said the Islamic dress ‘disadvantaged women from finding employment, was causing issues inside our justice system, presented a clear security threat and had no place in modern Western society.’

Ms Hanson says Islamic dress (pictured) ‘disadvantaged women from finding employment, was causing issues inside our justice system, presented a clear security threat and had no place in modern Western society’

Hirsi Ali says women in places like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan (pictured) wear full-face covering for either religious or political reasons

Her move prompted an emotional response from Attorney-General George Brandis, who called her behaviour ‘appalling.’ 

‘We all know that you are not an adherent of the Islamic faith. I would caution and counsel you with respect to be very, very careful of the offence you may do to the religious sensibilities of other Australians,’ he said. 

Hirsi Ali cancelled an Australian speaking tour in April 2017 due to security concerns after being criticised by Australian Muslims who called her ‘Islamophobic.’

‘I just want to point my finger at all the places in the world today where Islamic law is applied and how women are treated and I want to say to these women, “shame on you”,’ she said to her detractors at the time.

Ms Hanson (pictured, wearing the burqa) was criticised for her Senate stunt, with some calling it ‘appalling’