France: Muslim Girl Banned from Class for Wearing Long Skirt
April 29, 2015The case of a 15-year-old Muslim girl who was banned from class twice for wearing a long black skirt seen as too openly religious for secular France has sparked an outcry, AFP reported Tuesday.
The girl was stopped from going to class earlier this month by the head teacher who reportedly felt the long skirt — popular among some Muslim women who cover their whole body — “conspicuously” showed religious affiliation, which is banned in schools by France’s strict secularity laws.
“The girl was not excluded, she was asked to come back with a neutral outfit and it seems her father did not want the student to come back to school,” local education official Patrice Dutot told AFP.
He added that the student always removed her veil before entering school premises in the northeastern town of Charleville-Mezieres, as is specifically stipulated by law.
According to the 2004 law that governs secularity in schools, veils, the Jewish kippah or large Christian crosses are all banned in educational establishments, but “discreet religious signs” are allowed.
The student, whom local daily L’Ardennais identified as Sarah, told the newspaper her skirt was “nothing special, it’s very simple, there’s nothing conspicuous. There is no religious sign whatsoever.”
Her story was trending on Twitter in France Tuesday with the hashtag #JePorteMaJupeCommeJeVeux, translated into English as “I wear my skirt as I please.”
“If it’s worn by a ‘white’ person, it’s hippy chic, if it’s a Muslim, it becomes conspicuous,” one user tweeted, according to AFP.
But the regional education office hinted in a statement that wearing the skirt could have been part of a concerted “provocation.”
“When it comes to concerted protest actions by students, which follow other more visible incidents linked for instance to wearing the veil, the secular framework for education must be firmly reminded and guaranteed,” it said.
According to the CCIF Islamophobia watchdog, some 130 students were rejected from class last year for outfits deemed too openly religious.
In a controversial decision, France outlawed the wearing of a niqab (full face veil) – part of the burqa, or full body covering worn by Muslim women – in public in April 2011, citing security concerns as the reason for the ban. Women who wear the veil face a 150 euro ($190) fine.
Since the law was passed, there have been several controversial incidents around it. Last year, a French court convicted a young woman for wearing a full-face Islamic veil in public and threw out her bid to have the burqa ban declared unconstitutional.
Several months ago, the law made headlines again when a Paris opera house ejected a woman for wearing a veil during a performance. The incident caused France’s government to announced it would draw up a new set of rules for theaters.
France was the first country in Europe to outlaw Muslim headgear that hides the face. A parliamentary committee in Belgium later voted to ban the burqa as well. Italy has drafted a similar law.
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When people in your religion mass murder anyone that isnt the same as them, ya your going to be treated differently, Not saying I agree, its just a skirt but the head vail I can see.