Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues from the program who have supported me in times of need for the past 2.5 years, as well as the people at the Blue Refugee Center for the opportunity to get close to refugee populations. The sample under investigation is a group of refugee women observed in the premises of the NGO SolidarityNow (Blue Refugee Center) in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Introduction
My feminist point of view would put me in a position where I felt sympathy as well as empathy for their plight, believing that knowledge from any form of educational support could open a crack in the walls of coercion. With this study, I will try to discover the relationship between culture and rights specifically in the Greek context and in relation to the most prominent human rights declarations and conventions as well as the controversial debates in Europe that have established different discourses that shape and guide political agendas in relation to the refugee crisis.
Theoretical Review
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
It is important to know that international human rights legislation is a living organism that continues to expand, develop and refine the fundamental rights and freedoms contained in the International Charter of Human Rights. When countries become parties to international treaties, they acquire obligations and duties under international law, i.e. respect, protection and realization of human rights.
European Framework on Human Rights
- The European Convention on Human Rights
- The French Ban of the Veil – SAS v. France
- The Greek Framework
For example, in 1950 the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was signed in Rome by the members of the Council of Europe (CoE), reaffirming the convention. As Adrian (2016) argues, the ban on the face veil in France is seen as an issue regarding the limits of the right to religious manifestation.
Approaching the headscarf issue
Tellingly, for Bullock (2002), pop culture and mainstream news allow the "demonization of Islam to flourish in the public mind" (p. xxxv) with "a negative perspective on the veil" (p. xxxvi) and its association with "Islamic oppression of women." (p. xxxv) as part of a discourse consistent with this subversive agenda. Thus, Bucar (2012) also believes that the issue of the veil "can never exist in a vacuum of pure doctrine" (p. 4), unless socio-cultural, economic and historical parameters are not part of the study.
Methodology
- Research strategy
- Research question
- Research participants
- Tools for data collection and analysis
What are the dress practices of the specific group of Muslim refugee women in the premises of the Blue Refugee Center (SoldarityNow) in Thessaloniki. What are the reactions of the community that they encounter in their daily routine because of their dress practices. So, while preparing for the lesson, I couldn't help but notice the dressing practices of these women, which in most cases were clear.
Instead, the regular presence of their daughters and their friends (one of whom I didn't know very well) has become a one-way street for conducting the interviews. As previously mentioned about the observation phase of the research, the interviews also took place at the location of the specific NGO. The interviews were recorded with a digital voice recorder and the sound quality was satisfactory.
Data Findings and Analysis
The interviews
- The Muslim identity – the will of the individual
- Fashion in the Muslim spirit
- Comparing the homeland‟s and Greek context
- Future perspectives within the Greek context
In the case of (P5), the repetition of the word “like” about nine times within the first minutes of the interview complements her statements: “I say it because I like it and I see my mother BUT my mother, she doesn't tell. I, you must, you must say it and my father NO, I want to say it” (capitals for emphasis on intonation) and. As Bucar (2017) claims about fashion, “it does more than just keep us warm” and the context in which it is located “makes it understandable” (p. 2). Most striking are the sisters (P1) and (P5) who, as wearers of the scarf, appeal to their neat and smart appearance: as (P1) smilingly says: "I am fashion" and points out that she used to wear the scarf .
Although sisters (P1) and (P5) are waiting for reunification documents to travel to Austria with their mother and older sister to meet their father, (P1) reveals her talents in art “I have many hobbies that I don't know about , why. but the things I want are decoration and I want to be a fashion and a singer […] and I would like to draw […] uh guitar”. From the second pair (P4), he wants to stay in Greece and also be an engineer "I want to be an engineer, mechanic […] and a builder". When asked by the interviewer if she thought the strange looks and negative comments would be a problem for her career, she replied: "I don't have a problem, but I'm doing it for me - for God's sake, I'm not doing it for them" and her friend (P4) also she says she doesn't care.
Participants observation
Her sister (P5) wants to become an engineer and when asked by the interviewer if wearing a scarf will be a problem, she does not think so "I think not […] why not?". For adults and definitely for (P7) living in Greece has brought a big change in her life as described in the participant observation section and she often refers to it in our discussion "in Kurdistan the big Greek problem without hijab" and hopes for a better future for her children here, while (P6) prefers it here and feels free to remove the "hijab". I feel that this "usefulness" of all parts gave a different impetus to the regularity of participation by those participants who perhaps unconsciously wanted to be a part of it; and it is not a binding convention as there were women who would not want to talk too much about themselves – in fact there have been cases of women who may have told me very little, even about teaching.
But there was no hiding their dress practices, their style, because there was something out there that needed to be observed, even if it was left to my own personal way of decoding and analyzing. I decided to include some of those who allowed it or agreed to be part of the overall picture of the class. The other couple's friends (P3) and (P4) have more or less the same casual teenage style, but (P3) wears a hijab and (P4) does not and occasionally wears some light makeup (such as lipstick or blush).
Discussion
The interviewees clearly stated their religious identity as the most prominent reason for wearing the hijab; although they sometimes disagree about whether dress practices are the most important ways of marking their Muslim identity versus “kindness” (P6-interviews) or “politeness” (P1-interviews). It is interesting to identify cases that reach different extremes, as in case (P7), where the hijab was a predetermined dead end, but it was not the only one; early marriage and dropout from school resulting in illiteracy could be attributed to orphanhood. On the other hand, the delay (P8) in wearing the hijab was due to the clear involvement of the agency; she wanted to know why to wear it and thus decide when and where to wear it.
The younger participants constantly highlighted their free choice to wear the hijab as something they "like" (P5, P3 interviews) or "want" (P1 interviews). In fact, they were subtly judgmental of their countrymen who used to wear it at home but took it off when they arrived in Greece. Whether they continue to wear the hijab or not, they are going through a transitional phase in their lives that allows them to form their identity and a future that does not necessarily "alienate them from their families and communities" (Afshar , 2008, p. 424). or fall into the pitfalls of the “false dichotomy of.
Conclusion
On the other hand, those who do not wear the hijab seem to challenge the dominant, symbolic meanings of the hijab, which can lead to misleading practices, by emphasizing the true virtue of being a Muslim woman, which is kindness in the heart and respect for others. In both cases, the reference to religious identity becomes their common point with relations based on tolerance and coexistence; in the interviews, the juxtaposition of the wearer and the non-wearer, who are friends, reinforced their views on the true essence of being Muslim. In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that it is our ethical duty, living in a privileged part of the world, to listen to the voices and experiences of Muslim refugees.
Choice, Action, and Attitudes: The Dilemma of Faith and Feminism for Muslim Women Who Cover. The law and the wearing of religious symbols: European bans on the wearing of religious symbols in education. Dress restrictions on Muslim women in the 28 EU Member States: current legislation, recent legal developments and current status.
Appendix A
P1: yes yes I love Christian so much and my dad loves Christian so much and we don't have any problem with any religion but the things I want to tell every girl that she bought the scarf here she didn't buy because it is not good and nothing good has happened for you. P1: yes], but you have to promise that to God, you are just a Muslim, but you are not, but you are not doing anything to Muslim men. There are Muslim men I don't like, just like some Muslim men kill Muslims in our country. P1: At school they just ask why I bought it, they don't hate me or my religion, they just ask why I bought it and the boys said we wanted to see your hair (laughs).
P1: my father also told me (.) I have many hobbies, I don't know why, but the things I want to be (.) decoration and I want to be a fashion and a singer, but not a singer-singer because it is in Muslim ( .) or you know this "haram". Ρ4: because it is a religion, it is a Muslim, every Muslim who needs it, there are many people who do not need it. P5: yes (.) but when I come here for the first time in Greece, ::: I don't put on the hijab, but after I put it on because I like it and I see my mother (.) BUT she doesn't tell my mother I have to you have to to give and my father NO (.) I would like to give my mother she did not tell me and my father, but I like it yes.
P5: I would like to say to the question, yes, when I don't say I don't go out because I told I can't (.) Greek I don't know (.) if I go out I do . I don't know to walk my house because I told you the first time, but [after. P6: yes yes because all the time why why why (.) said ok in ζπίηη not wear hijab but outside.
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D