Objection, Your Honour! Accommodating Niqab-Wearing Women in Courtrooms

Bakht, Natasha

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1336791

Cited by 23 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The significantly high mean score for cultural/religious barriers was observed among Non-Muslims than Muslims (p<0.05). This might be due to the fact that for Non-Muslim females, covering of face practices are uncommon and it is against their religious and cultural norms [ 27 ]. Another possible justification for such findings can be due to the societal perception that covering one’s face is considered as a conservative act and females who do decide to cover their face are commonly perceived as old-fashioned or highly religious.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived barriers to facemask adherence in the covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan-A cross-sectional survey

et al. 2022

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Objective To explore perceived barriers associated with facemask adherence to prevent spread of COVID-19 spread in Pakistani population. Methodology A cross sectional study was conducted from 25-July 2020 to 5-August 2020. Participants of both genders of age >17 years, currently residing in Pakistan, who had access to internet and understood English were included in the survey. The survey was designed on Google form and was distributed digitally across different areas of Pakistan via social media. Survey included questions regarding socio-demographics, facemask adherence and perceived barriers related to facemask adherence such as perceived risks, health concerns, comfort, social influences, religious/cultural norms and social protocols and health recommendations. SPSS version 23 was used to analyze data. Independent t-test/One-way ANOVA was applied to assess significant difference between perceived barriers to wear face mask and socio-demographic factors, p-value ≤0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Post-hoc LSD test was also applied where applicable. Results Only 20% of the participants reported non-adherence to facemask. Amongst these participants, majority agreed that comfort was the main barrier precluding them from wearing a mask, 89.4% subjects saying that it was too hot to wear it and 84.1% saying that a mask was too uncomfortable to wear. Whereas, 82.1% highly agreed that difficulty in breathing is perceived barrier related to facemask usage. Statistically significant difference was found between health concerns with gender (p = 0.031), locality (p = 0.001) and religion (p = 0.03); comfort with locality (p = 0.007); social influences with gender (p = 0.001), ethnicity (p = 0.001) and locality (p = 0.017); cultural/religious norms with religion (p = 0.001) and social protocols and health recommendations with age (p = 0.015). Conclusion Despite of satisfactory facemask adherence, still there are perceived barriers to it. In order to increase utilization of face masks among the general population, strict health policies should be implemented and awareness regarding the importance of face masks should be enhanced by educational interventions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived barriers to facemask adherence in the covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan-A cross-sectional survey

et al. 2022

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“…and other niqab-wearing complainants are arguably likely to be viewed as less credible than non-niqab wearing complainants because judgments of their credibility will be influenced by stereotypes pertaining to their religion (Qureshi, 2014). For instance, Bakht (2009Bakht ( , 2014 argued that niqab-wearing witnesses could be perceived as less credible because of the subconscious biases that jurors may hold against Muslims as out-group members. Niqab-wearing women are especially prone to marginalization because the niqab declares their religion and outgroup membership publicly (Chakraborti & Zempi, 2012).…”

Section: The Muslim Garment: Religion or Demeanour Evidence?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling the truth: The effect of Muslim garments and face covering on the perceived credibility of a victim’s court testimony.

Fahmy

Snook

Luther

et al. 2019

Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des

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The perceived credibility of a sexual assault victim's court testimony was examined. A 2 (Face Covered: No, Yes) x 2 (Muslim Garment: No, Yes) between-participant design was used.Participants (N = 120) were assigned to watch one of four videos of a sexual assault victim providing testimony, and asked to rate her credibility. The effect of Muslim Garment on victim credibility ratings was significant; the victim was perceived as more credible when she wore a niqab or hijab compared to when she did not wear either of these garments. The effect of Face Covering on credibility ratings was non-significant, and the interaction was non-significant. The implications for women who wear Muslim garments while testifying about sexual assault are discussed.

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“…NS challenged a foundational premise of Western legal systems that those who see the witness are at the greatest advantage. Although there is much social science research that strongly suggests this is not true (Bakht, 2009b(Bakht, , 2012aEkman, 1992;Qureshi, 2014), most judges were unwilling to question the importance of facial expressions to credibility assessment. 5 The majority identified 'a deeply rooted presumption in our criminal justice system' (NS, 2012: para.…”

Section: Trial Fairness and Demeanor Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

In Your Face

Bakht

2014

Social & Legal Studies

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This article examines three judicial decisions in three different jurisdictions involving niqab-wearing women in courtrooms. Particular emphasis is paid to the Canadian Supreme Court case of R v. NS in which a sexual assault complainant wanted to wear her niqab while testifying. The uniquely challenging context of sexual assault, which has garnered much feminist attention and reform internationally, is considered. It is argued that serious consideration must be given to the multiple rights of Muslim women by reassessing the traditional use of demeanor evidence. Some judges in these cases attempt to be inclusive of niqab-wearing women in accordance with policies of multiculturalism, yet they do not go far enough in protecting Muslim women's rights. Other judges refuse to accommodate the niqab entirely. This troubling analysis parallels attempts made to exclude niqab-wearing women from public spaces in Canada and permits dubious objections that certain requests for accommodation have gone too far.

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Objection, Your Honour! Accommodating Niqab-Wearing Women in Courtrooms

Cited by 23 publications

References 0 publications

Perceived barriers to facemask adherence in the covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan-A cross-sectional survey

Perceived barriers to facemask adherence in the covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan-A cross-sectional survey

Unveiling the truth: The effect of Muslim garments and face covering on the perceived credibility of a victim’s court testimony.

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