An ex-Muslim woman has described how she ran away from home after her mother had spent years forcing her to wear a niqab.
The apostate, who writes an atheist blog, courageously told her story at the Secular Party of Australia’s Losing Your Religion conference in Melbourne earlier this month.
The woman, who chose to remain anonymous to protect her identity, told the audience her Muslim-convert mother removed her from school when he was in her early teens.
An ex-Muslim woman has described how she ran away from home after her mother had spent years forcing her to wear a niqab (stock image not of actual woman in story)
‘She did not deem the school environment as an Islamic one and it was time for me to learn how to be the perfect Muslim wife and mother,’ she said in her speech, which was also posted on her blog site The Nullifidian.
‘At thirteen she “encouraged” me to put on the niqab which I wore until the night I left home.’
After years of being forced to cover her face, she detests the Islamic garb which originated in Saudi Arabia.
‘I hate the niqab. It is one of the most dehumanising and alienating pieces of clothing a woman can wear,’ she said.
The woman, who chose to remain anonymous to protect her identity, told the audience her mother removed her from school when he was in her early teens (stock image of Muslim women in Young, New South Wales)
She described the niqab as a ‘dehumanising’ and ‘alienating’ piece of clothing for women (stock image)
‘It puts a literal barrier between her and the rest of the world.’
She also recalled begging her mother for permission to show her face in public, only to be called the Arabic term for a ‘b**ch’.
‘She would refuse saying that I was a disappointing her or be cruel and say I would look like a sharmoota or whore,’ the woman said.
Five years after leaving home, she discovered there were other ex-Muslims like herself when she did a Google search.