Barâa Arar, 22, is a graduate student in history at the University of Toronto. She shared: "This bill basically eliminated Quebec as a safe space where I could work or study, and it did the same for thousands of people, especially women."

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I was commissioned by the Globe and Mail to photograph and interview people who had been affected by Quebec's Religious Symbols Law (formerly Bill 21.) Passed in June 2019, the law prohibits public-services workers, including teachers, Crown prosecutors, judges and police officers, from wearing religious garments on the job. The law has derailed the lives and careers of thousands of Muslim women who wear the hijab or niqab, Sikh men who wear a turban, orthodox Jews who wear a kippa, and others. It has also killed hopes of advancement for employees who’ve been grandfathered into their current public-service jobs but whose chances for promotion are now limited.

In my search, I found 6 Muslim women who had been impacted by this law. In the interviews which I carried out, I found out that this law impacted them beyond their career plans and financial security, but that it impacted their sense of safety, mental health, and belonging. Some women chose to move away from Quebec due to the law, some are forced to look for other career options, and some are stuck in the midst of degrees that will no longer serve them. 

This cover story was published in December 2019 and can be read here.

"I think it is an anti-feminist bill. It tells women they can only occupy certain roles if they look certain ways. Is that not the antithesis of the message we’ve been promoting for decades to young women?"

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Fatima Ahmad, 23, is an education student at McGill University. She shared: "I feel like a second-class citizen with limited rights. I feel increasingly un-Canadian."

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"Since I wear the niqab, I have already faced Islamophobia. However, since Bill 21 passed, things have only gotten worse."

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Nour Farhat, 28, is a lawyer in civil and corporate litigation and constitutional law at Gattuso Bourget Mazzone in Montreal. She shared: "My dreams, my goals, my ambitions and my future can be in jeopardy at any moment, for no reason – because I am a Muslim woman who decided to wear the hijab."

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"To see your rights shattered in that way, when you were born and raised in Quebec, and went through the francophone system from primary school to graduate school, is a feeling I can’t describe in words."

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Ichrak Nourel Hak, 28, is an education student at Université de Montréal. She shared: "This has turned my life upside down, throwing into doubt the hours and years I’ve put into my degree."

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"The message Bill 21 sent is clear: I should accept being dictated to and leave behind my hijab, or change careers."

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Nadia Naqvi, 37, is a high school science teacher. She shared: "My passion for teaching gave me a sense of belonging. I am my truest self in my classroom. It’s my world. Bill 21 has undermined my place in the world."

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