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British women wearing Hijab are facing work discrimination as employers prefer hiring non-veil-wearing employees, a new inquiry finds.
UK lawmakers have warned that Muslim women who wear headscarves are routinely being passed over for jobs and that this has now become an “acceptable” form of discrimination, The Telegraph reported on Thursday.
A UK House of Commons report found that employers assumed that Hijab-wearing Muslims are “submissive and weak”.
Some Muslim women have even had to abandon their Islamic dress code in order to acquire a good job, according to the inquiry by the Commons Women and Equalities Committee was told.
Employers illegally interrogate Muslim women at interviews about whether they are married and have children or want to have children.
The report demands urgent action to tackle high rates of unemployment in the Muslim community.
Latest figures reveal that, on average, more than twice the numbers of Muslims don’t have jobs compared to non-Muslims.
Maria Miller, chair of the committee, said these tactics were seen “as acceptable to discriminate against Muslim women.”
She added that “people almost didn’t see it as discrimination. You can’t have some women more equal than others.”
“Everybody is subject to the same law in this country and Muslim women can choose to dress in the way that they want in the same way that other women can and shouldn’t have to suffer discrimination as a result of it,” she stated.
The House of Commons committee also warned that the government’s so-called “Prevent Strategy” has “exacerbated” a sense of inequality among Muslims. The strategy includes a requirement for teachers to report signs of potential radicalization among students.
source:presstv
