22-year-old Aysha Obeid says several potential employers in the United Arab Emirates have turned her down because she wore the niqab, a face veil that usually leaves only the eyes uncovered.
Obeid, a national of the UAE, now only wears the head scarf more commonly worn by Muslim women around the world.
"No one takes women with niqab in the retail sector," said Obeid who unsuccessfully applied for jobs at two retail outlets. She is now looking for back office administrative jobs where she believes she may have more chance of being employed.
While objections to the niqab have stirred up controversy outside the Muslim world, women who cover their face in the region also say they have trouble getting jobs, particularly those requiring them to interact with the public.
Just a couple of questions that kind of ask themselves in this case, I mean, a woman who choses to wear the niqab kind of makes a statement that she does not want to be seen, or that she has chosen to be extra-religious and extra-devout. So why would such a woman decide to work in a mixed gender setting? This defies the logic of the niqab in my point of view. And then to say she had to take it off to find a job ... I find that excuse rather flimsy!
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