Behind the Veil: A Muslim Woman Speaks Out

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 continue to impact public sentiments around the world. European attitudes toward Muslims have shifted; over 70 mosques in the Netherlands, for example, have been attacked in the month following the attack. In light of such circumstances, the Dutch Muslim community has condemned Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Dutch Muslim woman of Somali origin, and forced her to flee. Ali has openly criticized the injustice toward women in Islamic countries. "I had to speak up," she told the New York Times, "because most spokesmen for Muslims are men and they deny or belittle the enormous problems of Muslim women locked up in their Dutch homes… [Now] I'm considered an apostate and that's worse than an atheist." –YaleGlobal