Somali-Norwegian model campaigning for Muslim women’s rights | Art and Culture News

Last month, the French Senate vote In favor of banning girls under the age of 18 from wearing hijabs in public spaces.

It was the latest in a series of legislative moves officially thought to confront the religious “extreme” in France, which critics say unfairly target the country’s minimum Muslim population.

Rawdah Mohamed responded with a viral Instagram message criticizing the Somalia-Norwegian model’s proposed ban with the phrase “Hands off my hijab” handwritten, saying in the title of the photo, “The only antidote to hate crimes is activism.”

The ban is unlikely to be passed, but developments have rekindled the French debate over the headscarf.

Soon after, the hashtag #HandsOffMyHijab, as well as the French translation of #PasToucheAMonHijab, had a big trend on social media, spreading Olympic fencing to Ibtihaj Muhammad and members of the US congressman Ilhan Omar.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Mohamed said he wants to fight “deeply rooted stereotypes” against Muslim women, hoping to “unite” them in an effort to combat Islamophobia.

Al Jazeera: What was your goal with the Hands Off My Hijab post?

Rawdah Mohamed: It was disappointing because I was watching all this undoing. Not only this [hijab ban] incident, but before many other incidents.

Muslim women are always left out of the discussion, no one asked us what we thought. They constantly silence you, and people are constantly talking on your behalf. I got to a point where I felt: Okay, I need to take this into my own hands and do what I can.

Muslim women tend to be victims or almost like criminals. I wanted to show that there are real women who have an impact on their lives.

I also did it to unite Muslim women because it becomes loneliness when they constantly attack you. If you pay attention to what the media and politicians say, and you’re a very young woman trying to find your identity, it seems like the whole world is against you. I want young girls to know that it’s hard there, but if we unite we can work against this.

France’s 5.7 million Muslim minority population is the largest in Europe [File: Thibault Camus/AP Photo]

Al Jazeera: Has the situation worsened in the case of Muslim women in recent years?

Mohamed: I think politicians have found a new “escape code”. They know they can get the votes they need by shifting people’s attention against Muslim women. And if it works for one politician, so do others.

In recent years the world has become much more hateful to us. I think there is a very dangerous, xenophobic and anti-Muslim sentiment that is happening in Europe now.

Also, I think more and more young Muslim women want to have jobs and participate in society … Others like me are trying to take the space we deserve.

If you grew up in Europe, you always hear that you are free and you can become what you want to be. So when you reach a certain age and you feel like you’re getting everyone else to have freedom, but you don’t, it’s an incentive.

Al Jazeera: Do you suffer discrimination in the fashion world?

Mohamed: When I go to work at fashion shows, I have to carry my ID when I enter. Because they don’t believe that I am truly a Muslim that I have access to. Sometimes they don’t even let me in with an ID card. So I have to call my contact, who’s inside the show, and they have to come in to let me in. This has happened to me many times. And once, I also missed the show because they did it for a very long time [to let me in].

Hijab is a headscarf worn by many Muslim women and has been the subject of decades-long conflict in France [File: Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP]

Al Jazeera: What are the positive experiences you have had as a model?

Mohamed: Everyone in the fashion world appreciates my style, the way I dress, and I don’t just see myself wearing a hijab; everyone sees me for who I am. And it’s very free in that sense.

And then you get out of that little bubble you created with your co-workers and wonderful people who understand you. And then you come out into a completely different society, when people see you as someone who is oppressed, someone who needs to be released, completely rejecting the person you are.

Al Jazeera: Do you have hope for the new generation of young Muslim women?

Mohamed: There is so much resilience and firepower in the younger generation, and I am happy because everyone is so angry [French Senate vote] and they’re doing something about it, creating all that awareness, and people are having those difficult conversations when they haven’t had them before.

Being 20 years old and arguing with your 50-year-old boss is very difficult, but that’s starting to happen. It gives me great hope when I see younger generations … fighting for equality for all.

Editor’s Note: Parts of this interview have been edited to change clarity and brevity.

Rawdah Mohamed is one of the models who wear hijabs and is hired by major fashion brands [File: Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images]