Islamic Community in Austria vows to challenge the ban in the Constitutional Court. Austria has officially begun enforcing a new law banning hijab in public and private schools for girls under the age of 14 as the academic year got under way on Monday, sparking political divisions and imminent legal challenges over religious freedoms. The restriction targets head coverings traditionally worn by Muslims, including the hijab. The Austrian government alleged that the policy aims at "protecting" girls and promoting 'gender equality'. The legislation was proposed by Austria's ruling coalition—comprising the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), the Social Democrats (SPÖ), and the liberal NEOS party—and passed parliament in December with support from the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ). The school year commenced Monday in Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland, with schools across the remaining six federal states scheduled to reopen next week. Muslim community challenge policy The law has drawn criticism from Muslim representatives, who warn the measure could fuel anti-Muslim sentiment and violate constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. Austria's leading Muslim organization, the Islamic Community in Austria (IGGÖ), strongly opposed the legislation, arguing that it imposes unjustified restrictions on religious freedom and singles out a specific religious practice. The group pledged to support affected families and take legal challenges before Austria's Constitutional Court. Under the enforcement protocol, teachers are responsible for addressing violations by holding initial discussions with the student and her legal guardians. Continued non-compliance can lead to progressive administrative fines ranging between €150 and €800. Some educators and political figures voiced concern over placing enforcement duties on school staff. Sigi Maurer of the Green Party accused Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr of "creating new conflicts and dumping them on teachers," arguing that educators should not act as police alongside their teaching duties. Constitutional uncertainty The legislation follows prior legal disputes surrounding religious symbols in Austrian classrooms. In 2020, Austria's Constitutional Court struck down an earlier headscarf ban applied to children under 10, ruling that it discriminated against Muslims and conflicted with the state's duty of religious neutrality. IGGÖ plans to challenge the new legislation before the same court, which dismissed earlier filings in July on technical grounds because the law had not yet taken effect. Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr of NEOS acknowledged that the government cannot guarantee the law will withstand constitutional scrutiny. "You can never be completely certain," Wiederkehr told public broadcaster ORF on Monday. "We in the government carried out very intensive consultations and we in the education ministry tried very hard to write a law that complies with the constitution." The ban had already drawn public pushback prior to enforcement, including a demonstration in Vienna where an 11-year-old student carried a sign reading: "My hijab, my choice."

Austria has officially begun enforcing a new law banning hijab in public and private schools for girls under the age of 14 as the academic year got under way on Monday, sparking political divisions and imminent legal challenges over religious freedoms.

The restriction targets head coverings traditionally worn by Muslims, including the hijab. The Austrian government alleged that the policy aims at “protecting” girls and promoting ‘gender equality’.

The legislation was proposed by Austria’s ruling coalition—comprising the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), the Social Democrats (SPÖ), and the liberal NEOS party—and passed parliament in December with support from the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ).

      • orc girly@lemmy.ml
        194·
        2 days ago

        If I trusted that they actually have children’s interest at heart I’d give them the benefit of the doubt, but as I see it this is just one tiny step into dehumanizing Muslims and normalizing forcefully removing the hijab from society, which they have already done in many contexts (ex: some medical institutions don’t let you become a doctor if you wear a hijab, you can’t be a judge while wearing it, etc).

      • TheoryofChange [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
        111·
        2 days ago

        Basically what they’re worried about is kids being forced to wear hijabs

        This argument is illogical. Children of all ethnicities and religions are routinely forced to wear certain clothes or not wear others by their parents. Banning specific articles of clothing does nothing to change that.

        Also, if children being forced to dress a specific way is a problem, than how is the Austrian state forcing children to dress a specific way acceptable as a “solution”

        Arguments in favor of a hijab ban only make sense if you think hijabs are somehow uniquely harmful, a nonsensical and racist premise in my view.

          • TheoryofChange [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
            3·
            2 days ago

            I don’t support it, but that’s the arguments people are making

            Thanks for the clarification from your initial comment it seemed like this was your position

              • orc girly@lemmy.ml
                2·
                1 day ago

                the Austrian state isn’t banning people wearing a hijab in private it’s banning them in public buildings namely schools

                Which China didn’t do, and either way it wouldn’t make it any less problematic

                  • orc girly@lemmy.ml
                    3·
                    23 hours ago

                    they just locked people up in schools for months and reeducated them

                    Did you bother looking up the footage of dozens of terror attacks that prompted the policy? And guess what, after learning job skills they didn’t need to do terror anymore, it’s almost like fixing the material conditions of people is better than just punishing them, or (in this case) forcing people to assimilate.

                    Look at what Hoxha did to Islam would you say women had better or worse rights after his policies?

                    I haven’t looked enough into Hoxha to know. I’ll look it up after my finishing my reading list, if you have an earnest book recommendation.

                    I spent my childhood in the middle east in a country which had shariya law and little girls didn’t wear hijabs, anyways where are you from?

                    Sharia can include any kind of Muslim jurisprudence, not to mention how enforcement can vary wildly even within the borders of a single state, so this isn’t telling me anything. As for veiling, I’m well aware that younger than 14 is uncommon, with how you often start at puberty. My whole issue with this Austrian law isn’t on these minutia though. It’s about how many European countries have shown a pattern of discriminating against Muslims and it’s progressively getting worse and worse. It’s about how the authorities look at the other side when extremists set a refugee camp on fire. This policy is meant to normalize banning the hijab and other religious symbols, if we did it for girls and it was fine why not do it for X or Y. It’s meant to tell Muslims “go home”, whether you were born here or not, and whether you see it or not it doesn’t change that whether girls feel good didn’t cross the heads of these ghouls once, because they don’t represent the interests of any one of us, let alone those of children.

                    Defeat the nazis and I’ll gladly entertain your musings in a vacuum.