Perceptions Reasons and Barriers in Observing Purdah (Hijab) among Female Undergraduate Medical Students

Abstract

Hijab is practiced by global Muslim women as an obligation of their religion and protection.The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of Hijab with comparison of the awareness, perceptions, practices and identify barriers to hijab wearing among female medical undergraduate students. A descriptive study in four randomly selected Medical Colleges of Peshawar, Pakistan was conducted among 370 female undergraduates with 95% confidence interval and 5% margin of error. All female students were included in the study with consent however sick, absent with no consent were excluded. The validated questionnaire had 18 questions of knowledge, attitude, practices and barriers. The collected data was analyzed through SPSS Version- 21 with descriptive statistics for categorical variables through frequency and percentages. A total of 327 females with response rate of 88.37% completed the questionnaires. The mean age was 20.81 + 2.48 years. Hijab wearing females were 58.8%, 16.5% were without Hijab however 83.5% females were unaware of Hijab timing. The 76.1% females had no problems in observing hijab. The 68.8% hijab wearing females were satisfied, 1.5% felt safe and 3.4% were comfortable with it. Reasons for observing purdah were 63% religious, 23.2% for protection, 2.8% as a part of uniform and 7.6% due to family pressures. Perceptions of hijab were 90.5% religious, 73.7% to society pressure, 5.8% as a part of the dress code and 3.7% as a piece of cloth only. Hijab awareness was 95.1%.This study concluded that hijab is considered a religious duty and obligation with comfort and protection among the female undergraduate students of Peshawar, Pakistan.