Burqa bans

I just read this excellent piece by Kenan Malik on burqa bans. As a perceived human rights buff/feminist/politics loudmouth, people often ask me whether I'm for-or-against such policies , it being one of those issues that has 'crossed over' into the comment sections of both tabloid and broadsheets. My replies tended to be in the 'bans are bad' camp but located perilously close to the fence. The 2 factors tending to bring me closer to that fence are 1) the burqa strikes me as an unquestionable and grotesque symbol of female subjugation and 2) bans may help those women who don't have a choice in wearing the burqa. By this I mean not solely, or even principally, those who are literally forced against their expressed will to wear it, but those for whom their upbringing, education or socio-cultural milieu is such that a real, informed choice is impossible.

Malik has placed my feet much more firmly in the anti-ban camp. He doesn't tackle quite effectively enough why some women may 'choose' to wear the burqa, stating rather simplistically that evidence suggests that "in Europe most burqa-clad women do not act from a sense of compulsion" but instead "do so voluntarily, largely as an expression of identity and as an act of provocation". (I'm not denying that there is a possibility that a woman could make such a choice in a genuinely free way; but I would argue that many such apparently free choices are nothing of the sort.) However, otherwise his argument is very convincing. Amongst other insights, I like this (an obvious point but worth making):

What of the suggestion that women are forced to wear the burqa, and so need protection from the law? It is true that in countries such as Saudi Arabia or Yemen women have little choice but to cover up their face. That in itself is a good reason for liberal societies not to impose coercive dress codes.

and this:

The burqa is a symbol of the oppression of women, not its cause. If legislators really want to help Muslim women, they could begin not by banning the burqa, but by challenging the policies and processes that marginalize migrant communities: on the one hand, the racism, social discrimination and police harassment that all too often disfigure migrant lives, and, on the other, the multicultural policies that treat minorities as members of ethnic groups rather than as citizens. Both help sideline migrant communities, aid the standing of conservative ‘community leaders’ and make life more difficult for women and other disadvantaged groups within those communities.