Athens, GA- Many view scarves as a sign of oppression for Islamic women. But for most, this is not the case.

Student Aseala Abousaud says, “Obviously there is a huge misconception that women are oppressed because they are forced to wear it and obviously there are extreme groups everywhere that force women to wear it. But the hijab in my eyes is actually the most beautiful thing ever.”

And that is exactly the idea behind Scarves in Solidarity.

Student Chelsea Warnick explains, “We made scarves that we can wear as scarves just on a normal day and they would wear them as hijabs. and that way it would promote unity between both cultures and people would see they are not separate from us.”

And for a while, women weren’t seen as separate for wearing a Hijab such as this one. It was seen an accessory or headwear. But then September 11th happened.

Nurin Abdulwassy shares her story, “Everyone was turning to me like you caused this. So I lost all of my friends. No one talked to me. I remember on the playground my hijab was ripped off three times that day. I got beat up. And then I hid in the bathroom the rest of the day until bus call.”

This is another reason Scarves in Solidarity is so important to Islamic women at UGA. It is a chance to debunk these myths.

Reporter: Danielle Barker