ABSTRACT
An unintended consequence is that Muslim women themselves are frequently ignored: positioned as passive victims of more important intra-Western debates, the effect is to discount their agency or influence. Despite relatively easy access to full citizenship, Muslims in the United Kingdom (UK) lag behind other minority groups in terms of educational attainment and employment. Muslim women have been active in the veiling debate in the UK, particularly in three areas: in social mobilization and political lobbying around the issue, in participation in media debates and in bringing legal cases concerning covering. The amount of media appearances by Muslim women speaking on the veiling controversy allowed for an analysis of the debates and how they were framed. In the veiling controversy in Austria, according to the quantitative media analysis conducted for the VEIL project, 27.5 per cent of the voices represented are Muslim.
