Re: if a women is Free...
Women are free to cover. Whether or not their choice to cover up is understood and approved of is another matter. However, if one is comfortable and feels that they have made the right decision for themselves by wearing hijab/niqab/abaya/burqa/whatever, then other people's opinions are of no consequence.
If what everyone is asking about is societal approval of covering up, why is that even necessary? Does it really matter what other people think of YOUR PERSONAL choice? Yes, some people are narrow minded enough to think that women who cover up are all poor oppressed creatures or that women who do not cover up are all tarts but do their opinions really matter? As long as they do not interfere with your choice to cover (or not), their opinions are insignificant and have no bearing on your life.
As a society we are quite diverse and frankly, it is not necessary that everyone approve of everything.
You're right, the problem is when people interfere. I've seen such incidents as have friends of mine whose wives also wear the burqa/niqab. I've had people walk up to us, question us and after an explanation from my part still insist that I'm forcing my wife to dress that way. A friend of mine was physically assaulted when he was accompanying his wife and sisters by someone who said that he's offended that women were dressed like that.
Then we've had governments that try to make an issue out of this non-issue (i.e. that a small number of women wear niqab) instead of doing their job. They end up picking on the women who do choose to cover like that to show they're doing something instead of addressing real problems like healthcare and economy. They interfere in the name of gender equality and try shove their selective gender equality down our throats. So yeah, if people could simply have their own inconsequential opinions which they kindly kept to themselves, that would be great. Unfortunately there is some degree of interference and people sometimes just don't mind their own business.
Then no choice in the world can be a free choice, right? Ok, what is point of discussion at all, when we know no choice is a free choice?
However, we can see which choice is comming from ethics.
Right, so what I'm saying is that discussion of whether it's a free choice or not is irrelevant. Just to put it in context for you, the question of choice can come up in a scenario where a guy is somewhere with his wife, who wears burqa/niqab. Sometimes a random person would ask him why he's forcing his wife to dress that way. His response would be that she does it out of her own choice. Some people will leave you alone after that but there are others who will then insist that since she's been told that it's the right thing to do, it was not a free choice.