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Muslim women continue to suffer as Islamophobia escalates in the West

Islamophobia continues to grow relentlessly throughout European countries, many of which have entered 'unchartered territory' of faith-based hatred

Ersin Çelik
12:41 - 29/08/2016 Monday
Update: 13:04 - 29/08/2016 Monday
Yeni Şafak

Muslim communities are subjected to repression and discrimination under the guise of fighting terrorism in quite a few European countries, which have violated the principle of independence.



The debate has been specifically centered on Muslim women amid rising Islamophobia, which makes them visible targets for harassments when they don headscarves across the EU member countries, including Germany, Italy, Belgium and particularly France.



Women covering their heads are afraid to conduct their daily lives as they have been suffering from an explosion in faith-based hatred in the European countries where they reside. Western politicians have apparently imposed a “policy of identity" over Muslim women through bans on Islamic veils including the hijab, khimar and niqab.



Over the last decade, France turned out to be the European country where Muslim women have become the main target in the anti-Muslim debates the most. The restrictions, which first began on women wearing the Islamic head scarf in the state institutions, was followed by another ban on face covering.



In Sept. 2010, The Senate of France approved another bill, calling for a ban on wearing niqabs, masks, and other veils covering the face in public places, except under specified circumstances. Six years later, the French government has banned wearing Islamic swimsuits on the country's beaches.



Muslim activist claims veil ban is just a political tool


Rachid Nekkaz, an active challenger to bans on the Islamic veil, believes political leaders have used Muslim women as a tool to direct the country's current affairs however they want. French politicians have deliberately harassed Muslim women in their political campaign in order to distance the public's attention from their failure in dealing with financial difficulties, with which the country is still coping, he said.



The restriction on the full-body swimsuit has still been implemented in almost 30 towns across France. The latest in a string of restrictions on Muslim women has become an issue in which the leftist and the right-leading factions have acted in a rare show of unity before the upcoming parliamentary polls. The bans have apparentely been hardened in the aftermath of a wave of terror attacks which struck the country.









A debate, pretty similar to the one at the top of the French political agenda, has become a current affair in Switzerland. A controversial Swiss law prohibiting Islamic dress has come into force last month. Authorities decided to impose a fine of up to £8,000 on anyone wearing full headgear in public places. The law is being enforced despite Switzerland's popularity among tourists from the Middle East.



Security forces discovered the first violators on the same day the ban was enforced on July 1. Nora Illi, a member of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland, and a French-Algerian businessman, Rachid Nekkaz, were accused of deliberately breaching the law, Swiss Info reported. Nora Illi was caught wearing a full-length Burqa in Ticino's city of Locarno. She was accompanied by an avid opponent of burqa bans, Nekkaz. Both were ordered to pay fines, Russia Today said.







#Muslim women
#Islamophobia
#France
8 years ago