The French Declaration On The Full-Face Veil
Recently the French National Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution against the full-face veil. This symbolic gesture brings the country a step nearer a ban on the full veil. The National Assembly’s declaration states that “Radical practices which violate the dignity and equality between men and women, such as the wearing of the full veil,are contrary to the values of the French Republic”. The declaration also adds that Parliament considers it necessary to protect women who are subjected to violence and pressure, and in particular who are forced to wear the full veil.
Council Of Europe Stance On Banning The Burqa and Niqab
The French resolution was declared almost at the same time that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s (PACE) Committee on Culture, Science, and Education, declared that there should be no general prohibition on the wearing of the burqa and niqab, although restrictions may be justified for security purposes or “where the public or professional functions of individuals require their religious neutrality, or that their faces be seen”. It points out that a general ban would violate the European Convention on Human Rights. They say that, instead, countries should “seek to educate Muslim women on their rights, as well as their families and communities, and encourage them to take part in public and professional life”.
The Move Towards A Ban On The Full-Face Veil In France
Although Belgium was the first European country to introduce a ban on the full-face veil, the issue has been prominent in France since June last year when President Nicolas Sarkozy declared that the full-face veil was not welcome in France. A multiparty parliamentary panel set up then produced a 200 page report in January this year, which recommended that women be banned from wearing the full-face veil in public office buildings, schools, hospitals, and in mass transport systems. Andre Gerin president of the panel described the full-face veil as the visible part of the iceberg, and warned that below the iceberg is a black tide of fundamentalism.
A bill to ban the full veil will be presented to the government very soon (although the State Council, the country’s highest legislative body, has pointed out that such a ban is likely to be in violation of the French constitution as well as the European Convention on Human Rights) and will be voted on in July. It is expected to be adopted in September.
Views On Banning The Full-Face Veil
Muslims have also expressed their reservations over such a ban. Mohammed Moussaoui, leader of the French Muslim Religion Council has pointed out that although Islam does not require women to wear the full-face veil, a ban would stigmatise them in the way that, he claimed, they were by the 2004 law against headscarves and other expressions of religious allegiances in schools.
However, a group called Ni Putes Ni Soumises (Neither Whores Nor Submissives), which represents French women of North African origin, supports a ban because they believe the burqa is a symbol of oppression against women.
Think About It
What are the issues underlying the move to ban the full-face veil? Is a ban the best way to resolve those issues? Would education and wider discussion of why the burqa is worn be a better way to address those issues?
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