In April of 2011, France passed a ban
on all full-face veils. Although this has been an issue of contention
since its initiation last year, it is reaching attention again as its
relevance and appropriateness are being tested and questioned. Many
times when stopped, French Muslim women will simply lift their veil
for police officers. However, many people consider this a violation
of their religious freedoms. On July 24th this past year
during the holy month of Ramadan, a woman in Marseille standing
outside a mosque refused to lift her veil for the police, and many
supporters and bystanders joined in, culminating in the arrest of
four people. Although the ban was worded as a non-specific security
measure (it says it is to prohibit anyone from wearing anything
“intended to hide the face”), it then goes on to set prison
sentences for anyone “forcing another to wear a face veil”, an
attack clearly aimed at Muslims. This is indicative of a common
pattern of sexism aimed at Muslim women disguised as an attempt to
“save” them. It ignores that many Muslim women wear the niqab out
of choice and see it as an important expression of their faith and
their culture, and sees them as oppressed – it assumes that if
given the choice, all women would not wear the veil. This is
explicitly not true, as evidenced by the women in the article. Kenza
Drider is a Muslim convert who wears the veil and refuses to remove
it for police. When given a fine and told she was not to wear the
niqab in public settings, she told them to just continue to fine her.
The other woman in the article says the law has allowed other French
citizens to feel like they are justified in confronting her: she has
tales of being spat upon, beaten, and assaulted while carrying a
child.
Different things are being done to
combat this bill – a wealthy businessman named Rachid Nekkaz has
offered to cover all fines incurred by Muslim women wearing the veil,
but notes that many instead stay home. He says astutely, “The law
was meant to protect women but it has imprisoned them instead.” The
second woman I mentioned, Ms. Ahmas, is appealing one fine and arrest
to the high courts in hopes of then taking it before the European
Court of Human Rights. However, this appeal will likely take years
and many Muslim officials think it is important to work on other
issues – within the past years there have been troubles regarding
halal fast food and food in schools, minaret height, and prayers in
the streets when mosques overflow, and many people think these issues
of religious oppression are more pressing. However, this human rights
violation is also very important, as it intersects issues of both
religion and gender, and should be given serious consideration in
both the public and private spheres.
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