the globe and mail: Women’s groups are reporting a spike in verbal and physical assaults against veiled Muslim women in Quebec since the introduction of the province’s Charter of Values, evidence that the Parti Québécois’s bid to curb religious symbols in some workplaces is inflaming social tensions.
An umbrella group of 17 women’s centres across the province says members are voicing worries and appealing for calm after witnessing disturbing acts of anti-Muslim intolerance, from spitting to racist insults.
“It’s obvious. Since the debate over the charter, the increase in intolerance is palpable,” said Valérie Létourneau, spokeswoman for the Regroupement des centres de femmes du Québec. “It’s contributing to a climate of fear. Veiled women are finding it harder to leave their homes. It’s taken serious proportions. It’s important that this stops.”
The PQ has sold its secular charter as a force for unity in the province. But since it was tabled last month, its proposal to prohibit Muslim headscarves and other conspicuous expressions of religious faith in the public service has opened emotional and polarizing rifts in the province. It has also led to isolated reports of hostility against Muslims, including a prolongued shouting match on a Montreal bus, captured on video, showing a man yelling at a veiled woman: “We should have never opened the door to you!”