Danish Supermarket Chain Reverses Hijab Ban Policy
3 weeks ago, Danish Muslim activists Inaam Abou-Khadra and Alaa Abdol-Hamid started a campaign to support a Muslim woman who was denied a position working in Netto, a Danish supermarket.
Netto is part of a larger supermarket chain, all of which banned women who wear Hijab from working in public positions. This time, the rejection created a media furor after a Muslim lawyer, Safia Aoade, wrote an article to express her discontent with the situation, which catalyzed Safia, Inaam, Alaa, and their colleagues to protest the policy.
The supermarket chain’s main argument was that Hijab would not fit in with the company’s dress code. Inaam says, “We didn’t want to make a traditional demonstration. Instead, we would like to be remembered as the nice girls that served people and reached out for dialogue. And the best way of achieving this was of course to come up with new, more peaceful ideas that could make people think again before they bought from the store.”
During their protest, the women color-coordinated their Hijab with Netto’s bright yellow brand. According to Usman Nawaz, a British Muslim activist, “It was actually a genius campaign – the local women wearing Hijab donned the store uniform colors and helped shoppers take their bags to their cars, showing that Hijabis are just as competent as anyone else.”
Apparently, the supermarket chain agreed, since they have reversed their policy, as a result of the boycott, protest and national discussion on Hijab policy.
Source: patheos.com
The supermarket chain’s main argument was that Hijab would not fit in with the company’s dress code. Inaam says, “We didn’t want to make a traditional demonstration. Instead, we would like to be remembered as the nice girls that served people and reached out for dialogue. And the best way of achieving this was of course to come up with new, more peaceful ideas that could make people think again before they bought from the store.”
During their protest, the women color-coordinated their Hijab with Netto’s bright yellow brand. According to Usman Nawaz, a British Muslim activist, “It was actually a genius campaign – the local women wearing Hijab donned the store uniform colors and helped shoppers take their bags to their cars, showing that Hijabis are just as competent as anyone else.”
Apparently, the supermarket chain agreed, since they have reversed their policy, as a result of the boycott, protest and national discussion on Hijab policy.
Source: patheos.com
