The French Senate has faced backlash this week, after voting to ban the hijab in public for girls under 18 years old.
The newly proposed bill would also ban burkinis being worn in public pools, and prevent women wearing hijabs from chaperoning school trips.
Despite winning a majority in the Senate on the 30th March 2021, the ‘principles of the Republic’ bill is not yet law. Still, Muslims across the globe have expressed concern for the discriminatory tone of the move.
Nowhere in the bill is the hijab explicitly mentioned. It broadly calls for the “prohibition in the public space of any conspicuous religious sign by minors and of any dress or clothing which would signify an inferiorisation of women over men.”
However, it appears that Muslims would be disproportionately affected. Other religious symbols such as crosses can be more easily hidden, and therefore are less vulnerable to discrimination.
The use of ‘female empowerment’ as justification for the ban has left a sour taste in many mouths. French policymakers have long claimed Islam infringes on the rights of women by making them cover their hair. Right-wing senator Bruno Retailleau previously labelled the hijab “sexist”, and called it a “marker of the submission of women”.
Feminists and Muslim women have countered this loudly, protesting that limiting women’s choice of dress is more restricting than a hijab, calling out the perceived hypocrisy of French laws.
While girls aren’t deemed mature enough to decide to cover their hair until 18, the age of sexual consent is as low as 15.
French leaders are also concerned that the wearing of religious symbols leads to social division. This has been a hot topic since the rise of Islamic extremism – but associating all Muslims with terrorism has been called a display of harmful Islamophobia. Protestors claim it encourages hate against religious groups and even more social division.
On social media, #HandsOffMyHijab has been trending, with Muslim girls eager to tell President Macron what the hijab means to them. Belgian Twitter user (@LaaboulC) posted a picture of herself in her hijab with the caption: “Every single woman has the choice to be who she wants.”
https://twitter.com/LaaboulC/status/1379857802424897536
@softlynikolai similarly expressed anger at the bill, stating that Islamophobia and oppression are justified with secularism.
the ban of the hijab in france comes down to two things: islamophobia and the extreme rights need to regulate women’s bodies and what they can and cannot wear, they justify all of it with secularism and pat themselves on the back thinking they saved “oppressed women”.
— amara’s hopeless romantic era (@softlynikolai) April 2, 2021
Somalian influencer @rawdis shared her own experiences with discrimination, on Instagram and encouraged other women to do the same, proclaiming “the only antidote of hate crime is activism”.
Since 2004, religious dress has been banned in French state schools, resulting in expulsions and disruption to young peoples’ education and freedom. This is alongside recent controversies surrounding the depiction of the prophet Muhammad. Charlie Hebdo’s portrayal led to the 2015 shooting, and last year, protests broke out after a teacher showed these images of Muhammad to students.
Faye Minton
Featured image courtesy of kilarov zaneit on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
Faye Minton
Faye is a former Empoword Editor in Chief and an MA International Journalism student at Swansea University.