And why couldn't those women leave the house at all?
Leaving aside whether a woman is forced to wear a niqab or chooses it, if wearing it in public were illegal, she would be effectively banned from malls, coffee shops, sporting events, schools, any public place.
In your analogy a niqab is an injury, which is fine with me... but unlike injuries inflicted by a violent partner, a niqab is self-inflicted. If wearing a niqab is like an injury, then stop injuring yourself.
In the case of women who are forced to wear them through family pressure or outright violence, how is it any different?
I think emancipation would entail getting rid of restrictive traditions, not accommodating restrictive traditions.
I don't think it's possible to get rid of restrictive traditions for someone else. They have to do it for themselves.
Still, I think a woman should be allowed to wear a bag over her head if she wishes. Likewise a Hooters uniform or a chicken suit or any other degrading clothing. She should be allowed to wear her niqab, except under certain circumstances. The idea that people should be allowed to wear their niqab in their ID photo is moronic. The idea that people should be allowed to wear their miqab while testifying in court is unacceptable. The idea that people shouldn't have to show their faces to police officers and other law enforcement agents is ridiculous. But aside from that, a woman should be allowed to wear her niqab if she wishes.
I believe the only truth in the above is that they are allowed to wear them in court. In the other cases, the niqab is removed for photos and for identification by law enforcement; the accommodation is that it is done in private and in front of a woman.
And the rest of us should feel free to point out that wearing a bag on your head is stupid.
Sure, but it would probably be more effective to point out that wearing them is not a requirement of Islam.
The current efforts to rebrand the niqab as a feminist symbol are retarded.
I notice that the more anti-Islamic rhetoric there is, the more women I see in hijabs and niqabs. Could it be that the way women who are visually identifiable as Muslim are attacked is causing them to increase their solidarity through the wearing of these (to them, if not you) religious symbols? Maybe a smarter course of action would be to ignore it and let them realize on their own that there is a better and more comfortable way to dress.