Criminal Clothing

The French lower house of parliament voted today (July 13th 2010), expectedly and overwhelmingly, to ban face veils in public places. BBC reports that the vote was 355 to 1, with some abstentions. If passed by the Senate in September, the law is expected to go into effect early next year. Women who defy the ban and wear a face veil in public face a 150 Euro fine ($190) for each offense. If it can be proven that a man forced a woman to veil, he would face an even stiffer penalty.

I have a hard time understanding the rationale behind such a ban. The argument seems to go back and forth like this:

We must liberate women from these oppressive, humiliating "muzzles" they wear!

There are only about 2,000 women in France who wear a face veil. Many of them do so out of free choice and their personal interpretation of religious practice.

They must integrate and adopt French values!

Isn't "liberte" one of those French values? Women who believe strongly in a religious duty to cover their face will continue to do so despite the law, or will retreat further into their homes and private spaces in order to avoid being fined. How does policing their movements in the public sphere help accomplish your goal? To promote integration, other issues are certainly more important, such as economic injustice, discrimination, and racial oppression.

We're not targeting Muslims! The law doesn't specifically mention Islam or niqabs/burqas.

Who else is the ban likely to affect? Supporters of the law continue to speak about women's equality, immigration, and the importance of "French values." This sounds more like a cultural identity crisis than a matter of public safety.

If they don't like it, they should just go back to their own countries!

Muslim community leaders have said that the majority of the 2,000 women who wear face veils are French converts to Islam, not immigrants.

Even Muslim leaders in France approve of the ban!

The head of a government advisory body, the French Council of the Muslim Faith, has said that Muslim leaders favor discouraging the face veil, without an outright ban.

I don't know, maybe I'm not thinking like a European. A recent poll found that Europeans generally see this issue differently than do Americans. The Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project found widespread support throughout Europe for banning the face veil: 82% of those polled in France, 71% in Germany, 62% in Britain, and 59% in Spain. In the United States, though, the opposite was true; only 28% were in favor of a ban. One possible reason for the difference: Americans generally have stronger concerns about personal civil liberties and religious freedom. Amen to that!