Egyptian women speak freely about choice to veil at hijab summit
In a summit organized by an award-winning Facebook community called Surviving Hijab, many veiled and unveiled Egyptian women discussed the many considerations and challenges involved in the personal decision to wear hijab.
Egypt, which has veiled ballerinas, veiled orchestra conductors, veiled TV anchors and veiled ministers, may seem an unlikely place for hijabi women to face discrimination or peer pressure over covering their hair.
Runner Manal Rostom, the first hijabi woman to be featured in a Nike Middle East campaign, disagrees. Four years ago, she founded the Surviving Hijab Community to provide support for women who face pressure to take off the hijab, disdain for wearing it or claims that certain jobs cannot be done in it.
“Definitely, wearing a hijab has become a different decision. I want to prove that hijab does not prevent women from doing what they want,” she told Al-Monitor.
On July 19, Surviving Hijab — a closed Facebook group — held its first summit at the Greek Campus in Cairo, where 400 attendees and 12 speakers — veiled, unveiled or de-veiled — shared their experiences.
