Swedish women protest attack with headscarves

STOCKHOLM

Swedish Green Party leader Asa Romson is seen covered in this photo taken from her official Twitter account.

Sweden women from different faiths, including politicians and TV hosts, have started posting photos of themselves in headscarves in solidarity with a woman attacked for wearing a veil.

The protesters used the hashtag #hijabuppropet (hijab outcry) when posting their covered photos on Twitter and other social media websites. Police spokesman Ulf Hoffman said an unknown assailant attacked the pregnant woman in the suburb of Farsta on Aug. 16 by hitting her head against a car. Hoffman said the man shouted slurs which have led police to believe the attack was motivated by the woman’s religion. The victim was then taken to hospital.

The “hijab outcry” campaigners urged the government to “ensure that Swedish Muslim women are guaranteed the right to [...] religious freedom,” according to BBC’s report. Among the women posting photos in headscarves on the social network site Twitter on Aug. 19 was Green Party leader Asa Romson and Social Democrat lawmaker Veronica Palm.

The campaigners said they wanted to draw attention to the “discrimination that affects Muslim women” in their country. “We believe that’s reason enough in a country where the number of reported hate crimes against Muslims is on the rise for the prime minister and other politicians to take action to stop the march of fascism,” they wrote in the daily Aftonbladet.

In response, Justice Minister Beatrice Ask said such attacks “must be taken very seriously.”