One in three people in Belgium is bothered by women wearing headscarves in public spaces. Over half would prefer that they be banned in certain places. Intolerance and racism are at the root of negative views on headscarves. This was the conclusion drawn by the religious faculty’s Center for Psychology at the Catholic University of Louvain-La-Neuve after two studies into Belgians’ attitude towards headscarves. Some 69 percent of those questioned see the headscarf as a sign of oppression and 53.3 percent thinks wearing one goes entirely against modern western values. Some 44.6 percent are disturbed by someone wearing a headscarf at school. The researchers said that this study is evidence that society still has a long way to go in the fight against racism and intolerance.
