Burka ban

Financial Times wrote:

Lawmakers in the upper house of parliament passed a measure on partial face coverings on Tuesday that imposes a €400 fine on Muslim women who wear the burka or niqab in government buildings.  The Netherlands joins Denmark, Austria, France, Belgium and Bulgaria in outlawing the face veil amid rising anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe. 

The Dutch government, which has prided itself on protecting individual freedoms, argues the ban is “partial” and not as extensive as that adopted in other countries. It will apply on public transport, public buildings, schools and hospitals, with exceptions allowed for clothes that are designed to protect health and safety. Exemptions are also made for women who wear the burka during “festive or cultural” activities and will not apply to people visiting relatives in hospitals. Full-face helmets will also be outlawed under the ban.

SaifUllah wrote: »

The Burka Ban is just more racism and Islamaphobia.
Disgusting - white men again dictating what Muslim women may wear.

• Many of the entirely reasonable arguments supporting the ban come from feminists of various nationalities, so this is not a dictate coming solely from white men. As a reference to this, I'd recommend Fadala Amara's Breaking the silence.
  
• Islam is not a race, so while you could reasonably say the burka ban is Islamaphobic, which I agree it is an extent, it is not racist.
  
• My opinion is that clothing restrictions imposed upon Muslim women but not men through their religious tradition are anti-egalitarian and deny important freedoms from Muslim women that Muslim men and everyone else in Western society enjoy. From first hand experience raising two teen age girls with Muslim friends in their class, I know a couple of Muslim girls were very bitter about being denied the freedoms their friends enjoyed. Ireland just a few short decades ago was an extremely misogynistic and homophobic country, and this was something that was perpetuated by the Catholic church. I think as a result we're extremely wary of discrimination being protected by religious tradition. I suspect many people, myself included, see the burka as exactly this type of discrimination, and while I fully respect freedom of religious expression I don't accept that this should be allowed at the cost of protected discrimination. It is perhaps worth remembering that clothing restrictions placed on women in Islam were placed there by Islamic men.

tretorn wrote: »

Is the Burka by choice really when Muslim women appear to have much less choice than men.

How come we never really hear from Muslim women, how much of a role do they really have in the making of laws in Muslim countries. How is it a free choice whether to wear a burka or now when not wearing one brings shame on your family.

If you dont like the idea of modern European countries banning the burka then really you have the choice to uproot yourself and go live in a country where the vast majority of women want to wear a burka. Also, if the burka is such a good choice why dont men wear it too.

I would recommend the Book, The Wind in My hair, its about a womans right for freedom to live the life she wants in Iran.

As a consequence of the above insights, my opinion is that whatever the decision of the European Court will be, one should realize this decision will not solve the underlying problem of growing Islamophobia present in the Western society, of which the decisions by nation states to install a burqa-ban is a mere symptom. Instead of using means of repressive criminal sanctions
that have a counterproductive and stigmatizing effect, we have to address these problems of intercultural tension from a broader constructive community view point. The mere use of laws won’t create social harmony and won’t cure the diseases of an unhealthy community.
This means dialogue and discussion should be stimulated with the Muslim community in order to diminish polarization. Furthermore, reinforcement of civic education should make young Muslim women aware of gender equality and liberal values. Also, the Islamic teachers, imams, Muslim parents, Muslim organizations and individual Muslims that all together shape the Muslim community, should take up their responsibilities. They should encourage adhering to a form of religious manifestation of Islam and the values that come with it, that does not provoke conflict with the embedded norms and values of a liberal democratic society. One could call it a modern ‘European Islam’. It is very easy to hide despicable values of gender inequality behind the pretense of so called individual freedom of religion. Stimulate a modern European form of Islam is the only way to truly liberate the oppressed Muslim women from their patriarchal culture.

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

tell that to women in Iran or the former islamic state.

Peregrinus wrote: »

The whole point about law is that we legitimize violence to enforce it, which is why we need to be careful about what laws we make.

Peregrinus wrote: »

I gotta tell you that incarceration is pretty brutal.