– Our goal is to ensure that the girls, who do not have the same rights as the rest of us, get them. Christina Krzyrosiak Hansen says so. She is head of the Danish government committee and social democratic mayor in Holbæk Municipality. – If you are in doubt as to whether there is a problem here, you should visit a school in Denmark and talk to some of the girls in question, she adds. According to the committee, it should be prohibited to wear the hijab in Danish primary and secondary schools. The commission for the forgotten women’s fight has been set up by the Danish government. They must come up with suggestions on how to avoid social control in immigrant communities. The Danish government has set up a committee to increase equality among immigrant women. Photo: Pelle Rink / AP Compulsory Christian studies The committee comes up with a list of recommendations. In addition to the hijab ban, it has been proposed to change the subject of Christianity in school. Today it is possible to apply for an exemption from the subject. The committee will change the subject, so that it will not be possible to apply away from it. They also want to create courses in Danish child-rearing for immigrant parents and tighten control over Muslim independent schools. The hijab ban will also apply to Muslim private schools. Danish school pupils must not be able to wear the hijab, and Christian education must also be made compulsory at school. Photo: THIBAULT SAVARY / AFP – Discrimination of religion It is not the first time that politicians in the Danish Parliament have wanted to introduce a ban on children’s hijab. The Danish People’s Party proposed in 2018 to introduce a ban on all religious symbols at school. A hijab ban was an election campaign issue for the Nye Borgerlige party in 2019. But the bill that this committee is coming up with now will be difficult to introduce. – You cannot intervene only in relation to one religious symbol. It will be discrimination against a religion, says professor of constitutional law at the University of Copenhagen Jens Elo Rytter to Danmarks Radio. – You cannot intervene only in relation to one religious symbol. It will be discrimination against a religion, says professor of constitutional law at the University of Copenhagen Jens Elo Rytter to Danmarks Radio. Photo: University of Copenhagen He explains that freedom of religion is protected by both the Danish constitution and human rights. – If such a law is to be introduced at all, one must be able to argue that the hijab is completely different from all other religious symbols. That it is oppressive to women, says the law professor. This woman stopped wearing the hijab at school when it was banned in France in 2004. Photo: PASCAL ROSSIGNOL / Reuters French girls dropped out of school Several countries have a ban on face-covering garments such as the niqab and burqa. Denmark is one of them. In Norway, the niqab was banned in schools and universities in 2018. This proposal was controversial when it was introduced, but since then it has been quiet. According to the Islamic Council, just under 100 women wear the face-covering garment in this country. National hijab bans are much rarer. France is currently alone here. France is a secular state. This means that no religious symbols are allowed in public institutions. Since 2004, the wearing of the hijab, Jewish kippa and visible crosses has been banned in public French schools. The ban applies to both teachers and students. The Norwegian photo model Rawdah has campaigned against the French anti-hijab regulations Photo: private There are no clear signs that the French bill led to less social control of Muslim women. A survey shows that between 10 and 15 per cent of girls who wore the hijab stopped going to school, says lecturer in sociology of religion at the University of Copenhagen Bjørn Arly: – That is what is the danger. In Denmark, we have compulsory schooling, but this proposal could push the most vulnerable children out of school. That the parents start homeschooling, says Arly to Danmarks Radio. The Danish Integration Minister Kaare Dybvad Beck (Social Democrats) did not want to comment on what the government will do with the committee’s recommendations.
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Danish government committee wants hijab ban in schools – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
