Why European ‘Headscarf Ban’ Hurts Integration
Women in Rome. Image by Getty Images
A European Union court ruling on Tuesday permitting workplaces to ban religious attire drew criticism from rabbis. At The Pool, Samira Shackle explains how, precisely, the ban is discriminatory:
The ruling on religious symbols doesn’t create a new prejudice – it doesn’t magic out of nowhere a barrier to entering the workforce. It legitimises and enforces one that already exists, and strips away part of the legal protection against these existing biases. Muslim women are already the most economically disadvantaged group in the UK, a pattern which is mirrored in other parts of Europe. The debate around the cloth that Muslim women choose to wear (or not) frequently involves hand-wringing over their oppression at the hands of Muslim men, but this is utterly tone deaf if it is superseded by discrimination and barriers to participation from mainstream society.
Shackle notes that hijab-wearers face bigotry, but rightly suggests that adding a further obstacle to Muslim women’s lives won’t help matters: “If integration is indeed the ultimate goal, enforcing barriers to participating in the workforce is hardly the best way of going about it.” Precisely.
Phoebe Maltz Bovy edits the Sisterhood, and can be reached at [email protected]. She is the author of The Perils of “Privilege”, from St. Martin’s Press.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
