From victims to suspects: Muslim women since 9/11

Abstract

Shakira Hussein's From victims to suspects explores how, since the ‘war on terror’, Muslim women find themselves trapped between their perceived roles of helpless and docile beings on the one hand, and dangerous terrorists on the other. Drawing on relevant events such as the ‘burkini’ ban in France, the ‘ban the burka’ campaign in Australia and the Cronulla Riots in Sydney, Hussein's book is a necessary academic intervention on an often misunderstood contemporary issue. The preface to the book opens with a description of Oprah Winfrey's recitation of ‘Under the burqa’, a monologue written by the author of The vagina monologues, Eve Ensler. This recitation was followed by a powerful performance in which Oprah slowly lifted the burka off a young member of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). This event happened only a few months before the 11 September attacks and, in Hussein's view, rendered Muslim women into ‘icons of victimhood’—thus providing a pretext for the ‘American rescue mission’ in Afghanistan.