Why I oppose the Burka Ban

 

For decades there has been a strong movement growing in Europe to ban women from wearing headscarves, niqabs, and burqas, labelling them as symbols of female oppression and threats to security. Far-right nationals have gone as far as saying that the wearing of these garments is not a causal, personal choice but part of a wider attempt by political Islamism to gain support and ‘win recruits’.

In France in particular, the issue has been hugely controversial, and massively debated, with the conversation arguably starting in January 2004 when France’s national assembly began debating a bill to ban religious symbols in schools, that was eventually passed later that year. Since then, the issue has been raised time and time again, and the French government have continued to tighten their stance on the banning of these religious symbols. In 2010, the Senate of France passed a bill banning the wearing of ‘face-covering headgear’ in public places. While no particular religious symbols or any particular headwear is mentioned in either bill, many consider both to be directed heavily at the Muslim women and girls who choose to wear the burka, niqab and hijab. More recently, and this time entirely directed at Muslim women, came the ban that the Mayor of Cannes enforced in summer 2016. He banned the wearing of ‘Burkinis’ (full body coverage swimwear worn by Muslim women to remain modest, as they are instructed to do in Islam) on his stretch of beach, prompting many other Mayors in other regions to follow suit. This was met, surprisingly in such a liberal country, by mass support, not only by Far-right Nationals, but also by mainstream right and left supporters. Manuel Valls, socialist Prime Minister, argued that the burkini represents ‘the enslavement of women’, and many others believe that these garments are just a means of female oppression rather than a personal choice the woman makes herself.

Though France is leading this movement, many other nations are following suit. Angela Merkel endorsed a partial ban on face coverings in public in December 2016, stating they were ‘inappropriate and should be banned where legally possible’. Then, in 2017, Austria’s ruling coalition agreed to ban full face veils in court and schools. There are an estimated 44 million Muslim individuals residing in Europe. Many of these individuals attribute the bans to blatant islamophobia under the pretence of liberalism, and question how, in countries with a tradition of liberal multiculturalism, such laws are being passed. People proposing the ban argue that women who wear the niqab and burka are fundamentally oppressed, forced to wear the garments by men as a form of patriarchal control. They support this by stating how in Muslim countries women traditionally have fewer rights, fewer freedoms and have the majority of their lives dictated by men. However, the ban is being imposed on Muslim women in the west, where equality and freedom of expression are supposedly favoured. Therefore, many question how we can begin attempting to dictate what a woman can and cannot wear yet label it female liberation?

European leaders are using the oppression of women as an excuse to further oppress women, by imposing laws on clothing they can and cannot wear, which is the exact thing they claim to be solving. And if modest dress is a form of female oppression, why is the ban only being directed as Muslim women, not Nuns who wear wimples or Jews who wear the yarmulke? This suggests the issue is not simply one concerning female liberation, but concerning deep rooted anti-Muslim bigotry, a familiar concept in current politics. The veil ban is seen by many as a response to a nationwide fear of extremist groups, a minuscule number of individuals using Islam as a vehicle to propagate their lust for domination and power over the west. The media continues to sensationalise jihadist attacks and demonise Islam as a religion that promotes violence and inequality, doing nothing to aid the growing problem of islamophobia in the west. By banning conspicuous religious symbols, the governments are attempting to soothe religious tension in society, as they argue wearing the veil ‘sets women apart’ from the whole.

Personally, I believe that banning these articles of clothing is reactionary. Muslim women in Europe do not wear the hijab or burka or niqab to satisfy men. They wear it as an act of worship to Allah, and women who choose to wear these headscarves can feel united with other women who do the same, and find solidarity, especially in a day and age where discrimination is so prevalent, particularly against Muslim women. The veil is not the thing that ‘sets women apart’, preventing integration and acceptance, it is ingrained islamophobia that prevents these women from feeling integrated and accepted in society. The problem we face is not simply about clothing, but about western attitudes to Islam, brought on by the negative connotations the public have with the religion, due to terrorism, leading to the demonisation of Islam by the media, by politicians, and eventually by members of society. Islam is a religion founded on peace, and the criminalisation of the simple act of following one’s own religious teachings freely, is an absurd way to attempt to promote unity and equality in society. In a democratic society, clothing should be a matter of choice, and women should not feel obliged to comply with western standards. This is why I, and many others, oppose the ‘burka ban’.