WUNRN
ISLAMIC
VEIL ACROSS EUROPE
September
2011 - Countries across
The debate takes in religious freedom, female equality, secular traditions and even fears of terrorism.
The veil issue is part of a wider debate
about multiculturalism in
FRANCE
Headscarves are allowed at French universities - but not schools
President Nicolas Sarkozy has said veils
oppress women and are "not welcome" in
Under the ban that took effect on 11
April 2011, no woman, French or foreign, will be able to leave their home in
The penalty for doing so is a 150-euro (£133, $217) fine and instruction in citizenship. Anyone found forcing a woman to cover her face risks a 30,000-euro fine.
Two French women who continued to wear the full veil in defiance of the new law have been prosecuted. Campaigners say they will appeal against any fine imposed.
Most of the population - including most
Muslims - agree with the government when it describes the face-covering veil as
an affront to society's values. Critics - chiefly outside of
A ban on Muslim headscarves and other "conspicuous" religious symbols at state schools was introduced in 2004, and received overwhelming political and public support in a country where the separation of state and religion is enshrined in law.
Muslim
Headscarves
The
word hijab comes from the Arabic for veil and is used to describe the
headscarves worn by Muslim women. These scarves come in myriad styles and
colours. The type most commonly worn in the West is a square scarf that covers
the head and neck but leaves the face clear.
A law banning the full-face veil came
into effect in
The law bans any clothing that obscures
the identity of the wearer in places like parks and on the street.
Two women who wear full veils have
launched a court challenge, saying the law is discriminatory.
Before the law was passed, the burka was
already banned in several districts under old local laws originally designed to
stop people masking their faces completely at carnival time.
Though there are no plans for a national
ban in
At least two smaller towns in
It resisted calls from the conservative
Popular Party (PP) to extend the ban to all public spaces, including the
street. The PP also wants the ban to be adopted throughout
There is no ban on Islamic dress in the
Former Schools Secretary Ed Balls said in
January 2010 it was "not British" to tell people what to wear in the
street after the UK Independence Party called for all face-covering Muslim
veils to be banned.
In 2009 UKIP came second in the European
elections in
UKIP is the first British party to call
for a total ban, after the anti-immigration British National Party had already
called called for the veil to be banned in
THE
The
The proposed ban reflects the influence
of the anti-Islamist Geert Wilders, whose Freedom party is the third largest in
parliament and the minority coalition government's chief ally.
Mr Wilders backs the coalition in
parliament in exchange for tougher policies on Islam and immigration from
non-western countries.
The proposal on banning face veils will
be sent to the government's advisory body, the Council of State, before it
reaches parliament.
No legislation has yet been passed.
Attempts to introduce similar legislation
in 2006 failed. Lawyers said it would probably be unconstitutional and critics
said it would violate civil rights.
Around 5% of the
For more than 85 years Turks have lived
in a secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who rejected headscarves
as backward-looking in his campaign to secularise Turkish society.
Scarves are banned in civic spaces and
official buildings, but the issue is deeply divisive for the country's
predominantly Muslim population, as two-thirds of all Turkish women - including
the wives and daughters of the prime minister and president - cover their
heads.
In 2008,
The governing AK Party, with its roots in
Islam, said the ban meant many girls were being denied an education. But the
secular establishment said easing it would be a first step to allowing Islam
into public life.
In August 2011, an Italian parliamentary
committee approved a draft law which would ban women from wearing veils which
cover their faces in public. The bill is expected to go to the full house in
September.
The north-western town of
In 2004 local politicians in northern
Some mayors from the anti-immigrant
Northern League have also banned the use of Islamic swimsuits.
In 2008, the government announced it
would bar judges from wearing headscarves and similar religious or political
symbols - including crucifixes, Jewish skull caps and turbans - in courtrooms.
That move came after pressure from the
Danish People's Party (DPP), known for its anti-Muslim rhetoric, which has
since called for the ban to be extended to include school teachers and medical
personnel.
After a Danish paper published a
controversial cartoon in 2005 depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a bearded man
with a bomb in his turban, there were a series of protests against
In September 2003 the federal
However, it said states could change
their laws locally if they wanted to.
At least four German states have gone on
to ban teachers from wearing headscarves and in the state of
But in
President Kadyrov even voiced support for
men who fired paintballs at women deemed to be violating the strict dress code.
In late 2009, Swiss Justice Minister
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said a face-veil ban should be considered if more
Muslim women begin wearing them, adding that the veils made her feel
"uncomfortable".