Beter Onderwijs Nederland

To those who say "it's her choice" I used to say the same thing about my own Hijab. I was covered head to toe. Even on the beach. Even with my male relatives. And when people challenged me, I said: this is my choice. You know why? Because the other option was burning in hell, hung by my hair for eternity. That's what they taught me since childhood. Yes, let me repeat it for you to just understand about our version of “freedom of choice.” I grew up in an Islamist culture that gave me two options. Cover yourself and go to heaven. Or don't cover, and be hanged by your hair and burned in hell. Like when someone puts a gun to your head and says "you can go left or right", technically, yes, that's a choice. I picked heaven. I called it freedom. And I believed it, because that's what happens when fear is all you've ever known. And if you think I shouldn't be telling you my story, I don't care. I really, genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, don't care. The women still living under that "choice"? I care about them. #LetUsTalk