To ask how many times you have seen anyone wearing a niqab (full face veil revealing eyes) or burqa (full face veil with mesh cover for eyes)?

It is quite often a choice by the woman

I think that this is a point which is often glossed over.

If the women who wear the burqa or niqab were pleading for help in banning it, that would be one thing. But that isn't the case.

I’ve seen a good few niquabs but never a burqa. I live in Glasgow and used to live in a predominantly Muslim area. Not so many since we moved (that’s not why we moved!)

YABU. I live/work in Northern England and see dozens every time I go into the various town/city centres, even in the smaller towns/cities, not just Leeds, Manchester, etc.

I might have seen one once. But the area I live in is not particularly diverse. There are a fair few Muslims here but none of the women seem to wear the full coverings.

Many when I lived in an Arab state. Several when I lived in Manchester.

I absolutely hate the niqab but I don't know how I feel about banning it. It would set a precedent. The only thing I worry about is men using it to control women by forcing them to not be seen by other men.

I've never seen one. I live in a very white undiversified coastal area.

I used to know a woman who wore a burqa and she had a great Mancunian voice, even though I never saw her face. 😀

Every day. SW London.

Oh yes and In a cafe in selfriges

@mumofoneAloneandwell the irony of your comment !

There was one person wearing the full garb around where I live but I've seen more ladies in a rich river town wearing where I believe there are some very wealthy residents from arab countries

Then around some wealthier area of londkn.

I don't think I've ever seen a burka, but I saw three women wearing the niqab in Oldham on the weekend in the space of about 5 minutes. I think that's quite shocking actually and more than I've ever seen previously.
I think this is a bad thing for women in our society as a whole, I really don't like it.

Yes to Oxford Street - the Marble Arch end.

Daily in a small town in the north of England.

niqab often
burqa I have seen women wearing all black with a mesh covering their eyes but not often and only around Knightsbridge/Marble Arch and Oxford Street

Does such conservative forms of Islam have a place in progressive societies I think is a discussion that should be had and where this influence comes from, and also there is the question of freedom to choose. But these discussions will attract racist comments so impossible to have

Lots in south London. I don't personally like it any more than I like youths wearing balaclavas but it isn't always at the behest of a man. It is quite often a choice by the woman. I've known some women who dress more conservatively than their family as part of their rebellion against them or as part of their own personal religious journey.

I think we have more than enough men telling women what they're allowed to wear.

I see women wearing the niqab or burqa most days. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest and I completely support the right of any woman to cover as much of herself as she wishes.

Dozens of times but I used to work in Beckton, Docklands, and now I work for a company with a branch in Rotherham. Occasionally now in my rural market town as well.

I agree that integrating communities is the hard part when some parts of their religion actively discourages it.

It varies wildly depending on area I would say.
Not many at all in North Wales (more with hijab rather than full niqab/burqa)
I would support a ban though

East Anglia here. I see them every time I go to any of the nearest cities (Cambridge, Ipswich etc)

Also live in S London and work in healthcare (so see women who wouldn’t be out and about). Also used to work in Whitechapel and obviously you see huge numbers of Muslim women there.

I have seen a fair few Somali women in niqabs. Maybe one or two full purple Afghan burkas in my life, and it was years ago.

Really not common, though of course that might well be because these women do not leave the house (you would be really surprised how many women don’t, even for shopping, especially older women who don’t speak English).

I saw a lady today in a pharmacy, Berkshire Poor bloke had to keep asking her to repeat herself as she sounded so muffled. I live in a diverse area and went for lunch with a muslim friend of mine from college, she’s never even wore a hijabc she often says God looks at the heart not your face. Personal choice. I’ve been to middle eastern countries and I was told by Muslims themselves that it’s not Islamic to wear the full burka. It’s cultural. Freedom to do what they want but I personally think it’s a shame a woman feels she has to hide away like that. It makes me even more against religions as it’s obviously man made. I don’t feel comfortable banning it either, if they want to wear it fine but personally I would be seriously wondering why I think God will give me brownie points for hiding my face that he created.

I live in an area of East London with a high concentrated Muslim population, so I see a lot of women with full covering including face. It has literally no impact on my life at all.
What is the purpose of “banning”? What is it supposed to achieve, other than yet another way to control a woman’s life by telling her what she cannot wear?
In warmer weather I also see a lot of other women out with very low cut tops, and school girls with their skirts rolled up barely covering their pants, men with only shorts and no tops on. Should we “ban” exposing too much of the body as well as coving up too much?
Wouldn’t life be easier if we live and let live.

Every time I go into Gloucester

I used to live/study near Tower Hamlets in London and saw them a fair bit there. I live more north London now and don't see them as often here, I see them around Knightsbridge sometimes.

I wouldn't particularly want them banned but if it was proposed I wouldn't really object to a ban either, it makes no real difference to me.

I've seen both perhaps a handful of times. I live near an area in Glasgow where there are a lot of new immigrants.

I can't say I'm keen on the full face covering but I'll defend their right to wear it, in the same way that Sikhs wear turbans etc.