France, Metropolitan

French Court Fines Veiled Women

A French Court fined two women for wearing burqa’s that covered their faces in public. This comes after a law was passed banning the practice this last April. This is the first instance of a case being brought to court.

The law which was passed in 2010 came into effect this April. The law states that it illegal for anyone to cover their face in public places; this includes veils and burqa’s. The women who are protesting the ban claim that the law violates their fundamental rights as women and their right to worship in the manner they choose. With a majority of the women affected by this law being Muslim, this law is aimed at an effort to suppress what government officials deem as radical sects of Islam. A law that was passed in 2004 banned Islamic head scarves in the classroom. Along with the previous law, the new law is direct attack on the Islamic community. President of France Nicholas Sarkozy, who supports the ban, believes that burqa’s and veils suppress the rights of women. Both the women fined plan to appeal their cases to the European Court of Human Rights. Similar laws have been passed in Belgium, with legislation already being purposed in Italy and the Netherlands. These laws violate fundamental rights of women and people of faith.

Identity

http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20110922-women-fined-wearing-islamic-niqab-public

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Defiant-women-flout-burqa-ban-in-France/articleshow/10086352.cms

September 23, 2011 at 12:08 pm