“Hi, come in!” Missoum smiles broadly as she opens the door of her house at Lura.
Josef (5) peeps shyly from behind his mother’s festive dress, while Jeasin (four months) gazes up at the butterflies that dangle on silk threads from the roof of the pram. Big sister, Zara is at school.
Keltoum Hasnaoui Missoum came to Norway eight years ago. She has given birth to three children, and is in the process of acquiring entrance qualifications for higher education, and has worked as a security guard for various security companies. The big and only dream is to become a police woman.
On the table lies the file, containing all kinds of information and articles about the police force and police training, requirements and guidelines. The first print-out is from 2002.
A dream
”It is a deep desire I have had for many years, ” says Missoum. ”But I half gave up the idea when I decided to wear the hijab.”
”People associate the hijab with the suppression of women, and are therefore skeptical. Folk forbinder hijab med kvinneundertrykkelse, derfor er mange skeptiske. I understand people’s skepticism, but it is based on lack of knowledge about what this is. The hijab is something I have chosen to wear myself. It is important for me and my relationship to my religion,” says Missoum.
“My husband’s opinion about it is irrelevant,” she says and laughs again. “He supports me one hundred per cent, and has offered to look after the children when I am studying,” says Keltoum Hasnaoui Missoum.
Lost the job
In 2003 she started to wear the hijab, but chose to take it off again because it was difficult in her job as a security guard. Some years later, she tried to alternate, going without at work but wearing it at home, but a year ago she decided that the head-gear was here to stay. That’s when she lost her job in the security company.
Missoum sent an email to the Police Academy, who referred her to the Ministry of Police Affairs, who in turn asked her to send a written query.
”Everyone was very approachable and friendly. My experience so far is only positive,” says the 23-year old. She awaits the reply with anticipation.
”In my job as a security guard, I found that youth of various culture backgrounds trusted me more. It was easier for me to calm them down,” she says.
Not supressed
Missoum does not feel suppressed in her own culture or at home.
“I feel instead that society suppressed us,” she says, and thinks it is a good thing that people see women wearing the hijab in different professions, for example in the police.
”People can understand that we are not suppressed. Maybe it can help us to be more accepted,” thinks Missoum.
”Minorities are needed in the police, and the group I represent wears the hijab,” she says.
The important thing for Keltoum Hasnaoui Missoum is being accepted as the person she is.
“I think there are many Muslim girls who want to do different types of work, but who are prevented by the prejudices against their head-wear,” she says.
Kommentarer