The majority of Christian countries in recent years, particularly those in Europe, have had concerns with women covering their heads and faces, which is now perceived as a type of radicalized Islam.

Background 

Some reports by Amnesty International and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation showed that discrimination towards Muslims in the West has existed for a long time. The prevalence of Islamophobia in Western societies today is a growing global concern. Nonetheless, due to many forms of prejudice stemming from migration, gender equality, and discrimination based on religion, Muslim women may experience the biggest difficulties of the Muslim population, according to the United Nations University (UNU). 

Some countries in the Middle East have made an effort to control clothes. At public institutions in Turkey, the veil was banned beginning in the 1930s. The veil was a rare sight for many years in the region's urban regions. But during the 1970s, a large-scale movement of people from rural to urban regions brought with it women who covered their faces, although this is more out of custom than for religious reasons, Swiss Info (SWI) reported. 

Islamophobia

Islam is the second-largest religion in the world (after Christianity), and the Muslim population is the largest and fastest-growing major religious group, according to Pew Research Center. There are expected to be 2.8 billion Muslims worldwide by the year 2050, up from 1.6 billion in 2010. The Muslim population in Europe is expected to rise from around 43 million in 2010 to over 71 million in 2050.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York City played a significant social and political role for Muslims residing in the West, and there has been a persistent propensity to link terrorist attacks with Islam across the globe. The number of hate crimes against perceived Muslims increased, especially in France and Britain, following the terrorist attack in Paris on November 13, 2015, according to UNU.

Ahram Online reported that Islamophobia may appear in various forms, but many observers believe that because the veil serves as an outward symbol of Muslim identity, it is becoming more aggressively aimed at veiled Muslim women. Some studies on Islamophobia in the West suggest rising levels of hostility towards Muslim women. Many of these studies contend that right-wing politicians and those who helped create what they refer to as the “industry” of Islamophobia in the West have abused or misused the veil.

Legal measures 

Although only a small percentage of the population wears full-face veils in public, France has passed two laws outlawing their use. The first, passed in 2004, forbade their use in public elementary and secondary institutions. The second, approved in 2011, forbade their use in public. Numerous nations adopted similar legislation, including Holland, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Austria, Ahram Online reported. 

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision permitting employers in the EU to require veiled women to remove their veils at work has received widespread public support in many European nations, notably France, where, according to the UK Independent newspaper, 83 percent supported this step.

A veiled woman in the US

Reem Zakaria, an Egyptian software product owner, told Jusoor Post about her experience in the United States:

I was very worried when I had to take the step to relocate to North Carolina alone. I was informed that three Muslims, two of whom were veiled, were killed in their homes in this state. I decided to choose to live in a compound with tight security in order to protect myself as a Muslim veiled woman. It cost me a lot of money. However, safety comes first. 

Since there are many expats in North Carolina, its habitants are used to dealing with people from different backgrounds. However, I was being treated by American people in an indifferent way because of my head scarf. 

I had a challenge. I was not able to socially mingle with people because they saw me as different and extremist. They did not hurt me, but at the same time they did not want to approach me. 

Moreover, the Muslim community there was very extremist, and I was not able to socialize with them.  I felt so lonely, especially since I am a social person. However, I refused to give up my veil. 

Regardless of their race, ethnicity, or religion, my Islamic and Arabic background motivated me to help people, who were surprised and thought I was offering my help in return for money. I explain to them every time that our morals as Muslims urge us to help people in need.