The education minister says female Muslim students will not be allowed to wear the loose-fitting robe.

Pupils will be banned from wearing abayas, loose-fitting full-length robes worn by some Muslim women, in France’s state-run schools, the education minister has said.

The rule will be applied as soon as the new school year starts on 4 September.

France has a strict ban on religious signs in state schools and government buildings, arguing that they violate secular laws.

Wearing a headscarf has been banned since 2004 in state-run schools.

  • Silverseren
    46•2 years ago

    The especially dumb part of this is that abayas aren’t specifically Muslim or religious in nature, they’re cultural. They are a long flowing dress, without even a head covering. A bunch of non-Islamic women wear them in a variety of countries.

    So this is more attempting to ban entire cultural outfits, which is ridiculous.

    • @ours@lemmy.filmEnglish
      15•2 years ago

      For context, the French are very strict about any form of symbol on what students wear. I couldn’t even wear a baseball cap with a team logo and that’s not religious.

    • @gnygnygny@lemm.eeEnglish
      15•2 years ago

      You forgot to mention that the abaya is compulsory in Saudi Arabia (except for tourists) and Qatar.

      • @bric@lemm.eeEnglish
        13•2 years ago

        And that’s bad. Can we agree that making a dress compulsory and making a dress banned are both bad, because they both restrict choice?

      • Silverseren
        5•2 years ago

        Saudi Arabia overturned that requirement in 2019, so you’re quite a few years out of date. It is required in Qatar though, yes.