The Price of Identity: Muslim Women Navigate Life Under the Netherlands’ Burqa Ban

Woman wearing a niqab outside of Amsterdam Central Station

On one weekend in 2011, an 8-year-old Romaissa Hayat, her pregnant older sister and their mother drove to the Limburg region of the Netherlands for a day of shopping at the local shopping center. The expectant mother glided excitedly into the store, searching for baby clothes, bottles and other necessities. 

“Oh, is Carnival early this year?” the young girl overheard as a worker at the store mocked her older sister who was dressed in a niqab, an islamic face covering which conceals everything but the eyes. Their outraged mother complained to the manager, who dismissed the complaint. Hayat recalled that the manager took the employee’s side, emphasizing that such garments are not normal, and the employee has a right to her opinion.

Face coverings such as the niqab and burqa have been controversial garments in the Netherlands for many years. In 2019, the government passed legislation which fully prohibits the wearing of such clothing in schools, hospitals, public transit and other government-owned institutions.

In order to stay in compliance with the government’s regulations, some Muslim women have had to choose between a part of their religious identity and being welcomed into Dutch culture. “You just don’t get accepted - you can’t live a full, happy life in the Netherlands while wearing a niqab,” said Hayat.

As a result of the government’s decision, many women stopped wearing niqabs and burqas altogether, or have stopped going out into non-islamic communities. At the time of the ban it was estimated that between 200-400 women wore either a burqa or a niqab. 

"You can’t live a full, happy life in the Netherlands while wearing a niqab"

“I do know women who still wear [a niqab], and they just avoid public spaces where they think they will be reprimanded,” Hayat said. She says that these restrictions have created a rift between these Muslim women and Dutch society. 

Hayat said that the women who continue to wear niqabs and burqas often pull themselves away from everyday activities. Instead they send their husbands or family members to run errands and handle official or governmental matters. 

“If [the government] were trying to integrate them, I think it actually had the opposite effect- I think [the government] pushed them away even more,” Hayat said.

Hayat’s sister wore a niqab for many years, until the law changed. She said that even before 2019, her sister routinely endured stares, comments and questions from authority figures and strangers alike. However, it was until the ban took effect that she felt so threatened that she stopped wearing her niqab.

Hayat said that although people were often skeptical of face coverings, the burqa ban exacerbated the problem by ‘changing public opinion’ about women who wore niqabs or burqas. 

After the ban, many women in Hayat’s community no longer felt safe wearing niqabs and burqas in public places. They believed that they were being marked as extremists and were being observed with an unprecedented intensity. For some women, there was a real concern for their well-being.

“For my sister, it was a safety thing,” Hayat said. “It was part of her identity, but her safety, her kids' safety is so much more important than any of that.”

Hayat said niqabs and burqas are ‘truly islamic’ garments. No religion requires that women wear either garment, but some women choose to incorporate them as a religious practice. Ummu Bulut, a practicing Sunni Muslim, said that it is disheartening when a government places restrictions on worship. 

The Eyüp Sultan Camii Mosque in Groningen, NL. The inscription on the stone translates to ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion to the Lord our God’.

Bulut chooses to wear a Hijab, but is familiar with government regulations that impede religious practices. “10 years ago, in my Turkish University, [my Hijab] was forbidden, and I had to stop going to University,” she said. Bulut said that she could avoid these restrictions by attending an online university and limiting going out in society. 

This is the same decision that many women in the Netherlands made following the 2019 ban- practice their beliefs or conform to societal pressures. “It is a choice. I have to think what is better for me. I can’t change my style, I can’t change my ideas because of some stupid guys’ opinion,” said Bulut.