France faces backlash over proposed hijab ban in sports
The hijab may soon be prohibited from all sports competitions taking place in France, as the lower house of parliament will be voting on a bill extensively critised by Muslim athletes and human rights advocates, who deem it Islamaphobic, the Middle East Eye reported on April 4th.
Up until now, each sports federation actively decided its own rules. The proposed law intends to impose a prohibition on hijabs in all sports federations.
According to Amnesty International, Senator Michel Savin introduced the proposal to the Senate on March 5th, 2024. The Senate had already rejected an earlier effort to outlaw religious headwear in all sports on a national level in February 2022.
What is referred to as the “law on secularism in sport” was initially adopted by the Senate, which is the upper house in parliament, during February.
Numerous key officials, including Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, have shown their support in passing the bill. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said wearing the hijab is a type of “entryism.” Various ministers have expressed that Muslim women having a hijab on in sports do it in order to promote “Islamism” in France.
Retailleau, at a conference “against Islamism,” said “Long live sports and down with the veil.”
Sports Minister Marie Barsacq criticised the bill, emphasizing women’s right to “exercise their religious freedom.”
Sylvie Eberena, a national weightlifting champion who is 44, said she is thinking about leaving France to continue doing her sport with a veil. Eberena said: “The bill will do the opposite of what it preaches. It is going to put us aside, it will prevent us from blossoming.”
Amnesty said that the bill would also forbid prayers from happening in any “sports facilities or grounds.” The organisation also said: “[E]lsewhere in the world [the hijab in sports] is not a problem. Only France bans sports for women who wear the headscarf.”
Johanna Wagman, an advocacy officer for racial and religious discrimination at Amnesty International’s French section, expressed a clear response. She said the bill “violates human rights” and “discriminates on the basis of gender and religion.”
Iranian legislators previously sought to amend a bill that would impose harsher penalties on women who do not want to wear the compulsory hijab.
Amnesty International, Middle East Eye
