April 11 marked the beginning of a law in France that forbids women from wearing a burqa or a niqab in public.
The burqa and niqab are traditionally worn by Muslim women and cover the entire body, including the hands and face. The only thing visible is the eyes.
The hijab, which covers the hair and neck but not the face, is still allowed.
The burqa-barring law was passed in October but enforcement was delayed by six months in order for awareness about the ban to spread.
At a European Union meeting French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said the ban defends “two fundamental principles: the principle of secularism and the principle of equality between man and woman.”
Posters in France publicizing the ban say, “The Republic lives with its face uncovered.”
In France and around the world, people are protesting the new French law. Outside Notre Dame in Paris women continued to wear their burqas. A few protesters were arrested, though French officials say they were arrested for illegally protesting, not for wearing the prohibited garments.
Even in Chicago, the ban has people speaking out including Fatima, a student at the University of Chicago and member of MODA, a student organization that focuses on fashion.
“In a country of romance and fashion, one item of clothing has recently been restricted: the burqa,” Fatima wrote in a blog post.
Fatima, a practicing Muslim, does not wear the burqa or niqab but does wear the hijab.
“I wear the headscarf because I believe it is my religious obligation as a Muslim,” Fatima said. “Wearing the niqab or burqa is understood not to be a religious obligation (due to its lack of command in the Quran or Islam), many Muslim women make a personal choice to wear it.”
In France, it doesn’t matter if a woman chooses to wear the face-concealing garment; it is now a punishable offense with a fine of 150 Euros (about $215).
“It saddens me,” Fatima said. For her, and many Muslim women, being able to wear clothing that express their beliefs is an essential right.
Rachid Nekkaz, a French activist, has been posting web videos protesting the ban. Nekkaz is encouraging women to continue to wear the burqa. And, in an effort to raise money to pay the fines of those women caught wearing burqas or niqabs, Nekkaz is selling one of his properties.
However, the activist says the fines will only be paid if the woman was wearing the burqa by choice. Nekkaz’s fund does not pay for the fines of those who force women to veil.
Anyone who forces a woman to wear a veil in France is subject to a much harsher fine of 30,000 Euros ($43,000) and potentially jail time.
But is prohibiting a woman from wearing the niqab any different than forcing a woman to wear it?
“Either way you’re infringing upon her rights,” said Akeesh Zakoski, a Muslim Chicagoan whose wife chooses not to wear the burqa. “I don’t believe our religion says they have to, but I don’t see why a government would say they can’t.”
However, not everyone thinks the new policy is a bad thing. The ban has the support of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Additionally, a study done by PEW, an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward public policy, found that about 82 percent of the French population supports the ban.
“It’s crazy to me that a modern country, I mean it’s France, would do that,” Zakoski said. “I don’t think it’s something that will catch on though. I mean, free speech, free religion. People here would never stand for it.”
