French Muslim Women Challenge Secularism Laws Banning Hijabs and Abayas

Muslim women are fed up with the dress restrictions imposed on them in the name of secularism. From the ban on the hijab in sports to that of wearing the abaya in schools, they feel victims of a system. According to Loubna Reguig, president of the Muslim Students of France (EMF), who supports students of all backgrounds at university and defends their interests, secularism has excluded Muslim women, reports Dazed. To support her argument, she points to the actions taken by the French state to prevent women from wearing the hijab and modest clothing perceived as associated with Islam at "the complex intersection of colonial legacies, involving racism, Islamophobia", and gender-based discrimination. She thus points an accusing finger at the French political class, especially the far right, which advocates a modern form of secularism to the detriment of Muslims.

To read: French Court Upholds Ban on Abayas in Schools, Rejecting Legal Challenge

In September, the new Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, banned the wearing of the abaya and the qamis at school shortly before the start of the school year, in the face of increasing reports in schools. A ban validated by the Council of State. "This ban does not constitute a serious and manifestly illegal infringement of the right to respect for private life, freedom of worship, the right to education and respect for the best interests of the child or the principle of non-discrimination," rules the highest administrative court in the country in its decision, considering that the wearing of the abaya or the qamis