A letter in the Times today, from retired surgeon Susan Hill:
Sir, Further to your report “Burqa harmful to society, says Tory shadow minister” (Oct 7), as a consultant surgeon working in Cardiff I treated many Muslim patients. The majority of female patients who wore the niqab would attend the outpatient clinic accompanied by their husbands. In the consulting room, despite the fact that I was a female doctor, the husband would speak for his wife.
On some occasions it was clear that he was translating, but on many others it was obvious that the patient spoke English to the same standard as her spouse. Nevertheless, he retained control of the narrative. The niqab: a harmless symbol of modesty and spiritual devotion or a harmful symbol of exclusion and domination?
As if it was ever in doubt.
Leave a Reply