There is a common fallacy that women are encouraged to wear the face veil by male family members. This is a misconception that has been sold to the British public by an ill-informed media say women who wear the niqab.

The ‘unreported truth’ they say is that more women are choosing themselves to wear the veil and they are being encouraged to do so by other women in their community.

We spoke to some women who told us how their stories were unlikely to be shared widely as they did not conform to either the media’s coverage of the issue or how Muslims perceive themselves.

The wider media wanted to help spread the notion that women were forced by men to wear the veil and Muslims did not want to discuss the issue because they would be told they are not qualified to debate scripture.

A 22-year-old from Lancashire said she was encouraged to wear the niqab by friends and family – none of them were male.

She said, “I wear the veil out of choice and I find it patronising how I am seen as backward and downtrodden by the mainstream press.

“I spoke to aalimahs and studied the evidence in my religion which states that a woman’s face must be covered.

“I started wearing it after speaking to other women and going to Islamic circles. Most of my wider family are not so religious but once I made the choice I knew it was the right one.

“If I speak freely there was a lot of pressure from others in my Islamic circle to wear the veil. It was not direct pressure but once someone is persuaded religiously to do something you cannot argue against it.”

She added, “You only have to walk down the street now and realise there are an increasing number of women wearing the veil. More so than ten years ago. This has nothing to do with men. Encouragement is coming from other women in the community.

“I know this I have been there.

“It is an untold truth among us and I know you won’t print my views.

“In ten years there will be more wearing the veil and more after that.

“I don’t see this as some sinister thing. I think after some time non-Muslims will see beyond the veil.”

Another 29-year-old told us she used to wear the veil but now does not, “I wore it for several years and now I don’t.

“The reason I don’t is because I went to a Muslim country. I had never been abroad before and I saw Muslim women who were wearing the headscarf but no veil.

“I also spoke to Aalima’s (female religious scholars) over there and they told me it was not obligatory.

“But in this country there is a focus on telling women that it is obligatory that is why we are seeing more young girls wearing the veil. They are being told it is obligatory.

“I realised there were more women wearing the veil here in my home town than in a Muslim country and I thought how did this happen?

“I think we as Muslims cannot see why anyone would care who wears the veil but if you are a non-Muslim and walk into a superstore and see seven or eight women wearing veils you would be a little confused.

“I know non-Muslims who are not at all racist in any way and they can’t understand it. And we have not in any way tried to explain why a woman chooses to wear the veil.

“This issue simply isn’t discussed openly within our community because we all have someone we know who wears the veil.”

She agreed Muslims were singled out due to global affairs, “If you go Manchester you will see orthodox Jews and I have met Conversative Christians too.

“Muslims are singled out and I think non-Muslims need to accept how we are all different.”

One woman told us how her teenage daughter felt coerced into wearing the niqab due to peer pressure.

She said, “My daughter is feeling the pressure. She is in a Muslim school and although girls are not obliged to cover until a certain age, the younger ones are already covering their head.

“My daughter says she has to cover otherwise she feels ostracised by her friends. Me and my husband have never told her to cover her head.

“It’s probably our own fault as we put her in the Muslim school because our family and friends were doing the same and there was this expectation that we would follow suit.

“Don’t get me wrong, we are happy with the education and it is not the teachers who are promoting the hijab and niqab.

“This is pure peer pressure.

“Teenagers get enough peer pressure as it is in terms of how to dress, what their appearance should be, how to look good and getting likes on social media, but no-one ever talks about the peer pressure when it comes to the hijab and niqab."

She added, “There’s this self-imposed sense of being more pious when one wears the niqab.

“But my daughter isn’t wearing the niqab to be more religious. She wears it simply to keep up with her friends.

“It is affecting my daughter adversely and it must be affecting other girls too. I want people to be aware of this.

“My daughter doesn’t get a negative reaction from the general public. I guess that’s because it is normal to see people walking around Blackburn with the niqab on.

“But as soon as we leave Blackburn, she takes off the niqab because she knows none of her friends will see her.

“It is wrong that she should feel pressured to do this, but at the same time, I don’t want her feeling like she has no friends but unfortunately a lot of girls her age are very judgemental when their peers are not wearing the niqab.”

Another woman spoke to us about why she chose to wear the niqab even though her husband was against it.

She said, “I’m 28-years-old and I started wearing the niqab last year.

“I started going to this Islamic circle just over a year ago and that’s where the pressure came from.

“My friends and sister-in-laws were all going so I didn’t really have much of a choice and had to go along too.

“They all wear the niqab. I was literally the only one who wasn’t.

“They would make comments and subtly let me know that by not wearing the niqab, I was being a bad Muslim and compromising my faith for this duniya.

“I honestly felt like I had no choice but that I had to wear it just to fit in and so they wouldn’t look down on me.

“I hate driving in it but this is such a close knit community, you’re bound to see someone you know when you’re out and about.

“My husband can’t stand it. He doesn’t like taking me out with him because he just hates me wearing the niqab.

“He says it makes going out to dinner really difficult. He understands the pressure but says I shouldn’t follow everyone else.

“All these stories in the media about Muslim women being forced to cover-up by men – that is not all the truth.

“The truth that we as the Muslim community don’t want to face is that I am being encouraged to cover by women in my community.”

Student Fatima (not her real name) said there needed to be more open debate and discussion within the Muslim community. “We have schools of thought who actively encourage women to wear the veil.

“People might not think this is wrong but I was approached when I was young. I know other friends who were not even 14 and they were approached.

“These thoughts and ideas are coming from female religious teachers as well as male ones. And they are coming from female family members.

“It is everyone’s choice what they wear but there are ‘pressures’ to conform to a particular way of life and people are afraid to argue against it.”

One woman, aged 33 said she educates women about the veil.

“Due to there being so much negative publicity about the veil I know many of us who wear the veil won’t talk about it.

“Who wants to talk to anyone when you have already made your mind up?

“If you study your religion you will find evidence for wearing the veil. I hold no grudges against anyone who chooses not to wear it like I do. It is their personal choice.

“It is important for young women to improve themselves through knowledge. There is no pressure from me or any other teacher about having to wear the veil.

“The whole issue is blown out of proportion.

“It is a personal choice for anyone. We live in a free society and people can choose to do what they want.”