Dutch Parliament approves law on banning burqa

The Dutch Parliament has approved a law prohibiting women from wearing the Burqa and niqabs in public places, namely in education, public transport, hospitals, and government buildings. If women do cover their faces with the burqa or niqab they risk a fine of a maximum of 400 Euro’s. The ban is not applied on wearing…

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French PM calls for ban on Islamic headscarves at universities

The French prime minister, Manuel Valls, has sparked controversy by suggesting the Muslim headscarf should be banned in universities and that a majority of French people think Islam is incompatible with the values of the Republic. The Socialist, under pressure over contested labour reforms and growing street protest movements, reopened the divisive question of whether…

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A fencing mask hid her hijab. Now, this U.S. Olympian wants to be heard, and seen

One of the most prominent faces and impassioned voices of this summer’s U.S. Olympic team will be hidden behind a mask. There’s irony there, for sure. The mask, after all, is what attracted Ibtihaj Muhammad to fencing in the first place. Muhammad tried other sports: volleyball, softball, tennis. The other kids teased her for looking…

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The lifting of the headscarf ban one year on: German state laws and practices slow to change

22 March 2016 In a landmark ruling on the role of religious symbols in public schools in March 2015, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) decided that a generalised prohibition of the hijab in schools was unconstitutional, as was any privileging of Christian or Jewish symbols. The Court asserted that neither the rights of third…

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[press release] Declaration on the occasion of International Women’s Day

March 8, 2016 The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) held a series of meetings throughout the period of several months with women, French citizens of the Muslim faith, who are engaged in their communities and in civil society. The objective of this dialogue and exchanges is to understand the visions, the expectations, and…

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