Five months since the burqa ban hit Muslim women living in France, those who oppose may receive fines this week.
It has been five months since France banned Muslim women from wearing burqas in public places, and it will be decided on Thursday whether women will face fines or prison stays for opposing the ban.
Since the ban in April this year, many women have been attacked for wearing the burqa on the streets of France.
Politicians favouring the ban said in April that they wanted to “protect women”, but reports have shown that this has not been the case, as some Muslim women have had their burqa physically ripped off them in the street. Another politician suggested that it was “provocative” for women to wear their burqa in public.
Some public transport drivers refuse to allow Muslim women wearing the burqa to travel, as Muslim women are banned from wearing the burqa in public areas. However, no fines have been issued as of yet.
French property developer and founder of Don’t Touch My Constitution, Rachid Nekkaz, protested against the burqa ban. Rachid Nekkaz pledged to pay the fine for any woman convicted of wearing a burqa in public, and is due to commit 2 million euros to the campaign.
Don’t Touch My Constitution are planning to protest this Thursday September 22, and Rachid Nekkaz agreed that the burqa should be banned in parliament buildings but that a ban women wearing a burqa in public is “a gross attack” against Muslim women.
“The perverse effect of this law is that women in the niqab are effectively under house arrest,” said Rachid Nekkaz, revealing that Muslim women had contacted him claiming that they were too afraid to leave the house.
Judges in Paris will determine on Thursday whether or not to fine Muslim women who oppose the ban.
Two Muslim women were stopped outside Meaux City Hall for wearing their burqas, and told officials that they believed the ban had created a “mood of anti Muslim discrimination” within French society.
Muslim women and human rights groups have said that if fines are implemented they will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where the ban could be lifted.
By Bethan Hâf Marsh
[Image courtesy of Charles Fred]
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