A group called Splice is encouraging all women in the Auckland city to wear a headscarf for the day following the Sydney siege which left two hostages and the gun man dead at the Lindt Chocolate Café.
Ghadairalshe Mari says “We're here today to stand together and be able to share our moment with everybody that's actually affected by the incident that happened this week and to stand together and support each other.”
This is Ghadairalshe Mari describing Splice's push to unite those who were affected by the Sydney siege earlier this week.
“We as Muslim women are targeted because we're more noticeable with what's happened around the world so people are using our religion to get away with crime which is unacceptable of what they're doing or is right, our religion does not teach us this,” Mari explains.
She also says, Muslim women are easily targeted especially when acts of terror take place,
Much like the Sydney siege where Man Haron Monis took 17 people hostage at the Lindt Cafe.
Tayaba Khan says, “One of the unfortunate things that has happenned in the media today is how a woman is perceived, particularly women who wear the head scarf or the haab and it's unfortunate because that's synonymous with some form of aggression.”
Flying Scarves is the concept being adopted by Splice and is inspired by the thousands of Australians who took to social media to show their support for the Muslim community.
Particularly encouraging was the use of the hashtag #Illridewithyou.
Khan says, “We're all about breaking down any stereotype saying that we don't accept any intolerance or racism.”
Women from all walks of life are joining the movement.
Leitu Tefuga says, “I just thought it was a good idea you know after everything that's happened there's a lot of fear around the world and I think like this hashtag is awesome and its restoring faith.”
Women are encouraged to upload photos of themselves wearing the headscarves, accompanied by the hashtag #Illridewithyou.