French veil law: Muslim woman's challenge in Strasbourg
27 November 2013 Last updated at 10:45 ET
A young Muslim woman is challenging France's full-face veil ban at the European Court of Human
Rights, based in the French city of Strasbourg.
The woman argues that the niqab, and the burka body covering, accord with her "religious faith, culture and
personal convictions".
She denies being under any pressure from her family to wear them.
A leading French feminist group has urged the ECHR to uphold the ban, arguing that it liberates women.
"The full-face veil, by literally burying the body and the face, constitutes a true deletion of the woman as an
individual in public," the head of the International League for Women's Rights, Annie Sugier, said in a letter to
the court.
France banned the public wearing of most face coverings in 2011, setting fines for offenders of up to 150
euros (£126; $203).
The country is home to the biggest Muslim minority in Western Europe, accounting for about five million
people, or nearly 8% of the population. Most have origins in France's former North African colonies.
In another development, the Paris Appeals Court overturned a high court decision by ruling that a private
nursery school had been justified in firing an assistant director who refused to remove her Islamic headscarf
at work.
Fatima Afif was sacked from the Baby Loup nursery school, in the Paris suburb of Chanteloup-les-Vignes, five
years ago under the nursery's private rules. There is no French legislation regulating headscarves in nonstate institutions.
'A symbolic violence'
At Wednesday's hearing in Strasbourg, government lawyer Edwige Belliard argued that the law was
democratic and backed by "a strong conviction among the French public".
"Wearing the full veil not only makes it difficult to identify a person, it makes her indistinguishable from other
full veil wearers and effectively erases the woman who wears it," she told the court.
Ramby de Mello, a British lawyer representing the unnamed woman, said the law violated his client's
religious, free speech and privacy rights and made her feel "like a prisoner in her own country".
The veil was "as much part of her identity as our DNA is of ours", he argued.
According to the ECHR, the woman also contends that the law gives rise to "discrimination based on gender,
religion and ethnic origin, to the detriment of women who, like herself, wear the full-face veil".
While she is not named in the document, she is described as being a French national who was born in 1990
and lives in France.
The complaint was brought to the court in April 2011, when the law came into effect.
Ms Sugier, whose organisation was founded by the feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir, said the law was "in
no way contrary to freedom and dignity".
Instead, she said, it was aimed at the "liberation" of women because the wearing of veils was "totally
incompatible with the very idea of equality".
"How can one not see that to wear the full veil is also a symbolic violence to other women?" she added.
"Those who do not wear it feel insulted by this sight reminding them of the enclosures suffered in the past."
Supporters of the law argue that Islam does not stipulate the wearing of a veil.
However, some human rights campaigners have condemned the French law. Amnesty International, for
instance, has argued that it violates women's "rights to freedom of expression and religion".
According to France's Le Figaro newspaper, the court's ruling is not expected until the middle of next year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25118160
Muslim headscarves
The word hijab comes from the Arabic for veil and is used to
describe the headscarves worn by Muslim women. These scarves
come in myriad styles and colours. The type most commonly worn
in the West is a square scarf that covers the head and neck but
leaves the face clear.
The niqab is a veil for the face that leaves the area around the
eyes clear. However, it may be worn with a separate eye veil. It
is worn with an accompanying headscarf.
The burka is the most concealing of all Islamic veils. It covers
the entire face and body, leaving just a mesh screen to see
through.
The al-amira is a two-piece veil. It consists of a close fitting
cap, usually made from cotton or polyester, and an
accompanying tube-like scarf.
The shayla is a long, rectangular scarf popular in the Gulf
region. It is wrapped around the head and tucked or pinned in
place at the shoulders.
The khimar is a long, cape-like veil that hangs down to just
above the waist. It covers the hair, neck and shoulders
completely, but leaves the face clear.
The chador, worn by many Iranian women when outside the
house, is a full-body cloak. It is often accompanied by a smaller
headscarf underneath.