Egyptian Marwa Salem published her experience with wearing the sports headscarf, through the group "Save the veil" on Facebook, as the first Muslim employee veiled at Toyota, the car industry in Indiana, USA.
Five years ago, Marwa emigrated to America, accompanied by her only daughter, and met with her brother, where the presence of the brother downplayed the troubles of alienation, which did not pass ordinary Muslim girl veiled twenty years ago.
Marwa tells Al Jazeera Net about the beginning of her work in the United States and her fear of the looks of everyone.
The 30-year-old began her journey to work in the Diaspora, where she began working online in the manufacture of dolls and cotton dolls of children's clothing, and then listened to the advice of her brother to apply for work at Toyota.
Fierce competition
Of the seven thousand employees, Marwa succeeded in imposing her veil on the job, to be the only Muslim employee hijab company global, stressing that she tried to wear more than one type of veil, but did not find her only in the sports veil "Nike", which has become a solution for many Veiled in Western countries.
Marwa did not resort to this veil following the latest fashion lines, or search for a more fit appearance, but it was the work instructions and law that are not known by the veiled support groups on Facebook.
“I am committed to the rules of clothing, and the veil cannot be skipped. I work as part of the team on production lines,” Marwa explains. “I am committed to working so that my clothes, hijab, or even my hair or nails will not cause any scratches to the car. Workers without a hijab force them to lift their hair up, and for the same reason I have to put the shirt inside the pants, and because my task is a great deal of movement in and out of cars I can not work a wide skirt.
| Marwa is exposed to a lot of harassment on the street because of her hijab (networking sites) |
Against bullying
Marwa is forced to wear four layers of veil, one cotton under the nike veil, the third with a protective plastic layer, and the fourth "cap uniform."
Marwa says she never cared about anyone who commented on her hijab in Egypt, contrary to what she receives in America. The company has a strict law, if one of its employees is bullied and persecuted, the immediate punishment is to terminate his contract.
Marwa went through many of the positions that she tried to ignore as much as possible, because of her veil, whether before or after work in Toyota, but it is much easier within the company community from outside, Marwa is harassed because of her veil.
Daily harassment
Bullying and racism stalk Marwa every day, but she says ignorance is always the answer. Her family emigrated to look for a new society, and she does not have the luxury of getting into trouble there, she said.
Marwa does not know another Muslim inside the company, but there are many men who accepted her hijab with a special welcome. "I was very worried about the job interview because of the hijab, but those who interviewed me confirmed that my hijab is not a hindrance at all. ".
Marwa stressed that the American company is trying to prove that it accepts everyone, and everyone coexists under the rules of work that take into account the difference, and when I told them that they will not accept to remove the veil at work;