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Religious Rights : Freedom Of Rights

Decent Essays

Every individual has the right to entertain the religious beliefs they choose, and they should be able to declare them openly without fear. Being unable to demonstrate and practice the religion of choice is a discrimination of the Charter alone. The Charter explicitly states under section two that everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: “freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication…” When a Muslim wears her niqab she feels pride in her religion, it makes her feel some sense of security. In numerous cases, saying that these women cannot wear their religious headscarves is a form of oppression. Nonetheless, if society wants women to feel empowered they should choose if they want to wear it, but cannot be obliged to, or not to. There was a Toronto case where a judge had to decide whether a Muslim woman could wear her niqab while testifying as the alleged victim in a sexual-assault case. The judge had decided that the woman must remove her niqab, leaving the woman bare-faced. A niqab is a form of expression for an innumerable number of Muslim women; it is a part of their religion and subsequently a part of the individual. However, the judge should have been able to judge based on the evidence provided and it should not matter how the alleged victim is clothed. These women were raised and normalized to life with the niqab. People should look at others on a

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