The French Controversy

In current event news, this past week The French Parliament passed legislation that would ban women from wearing full-face Islamic veils in public. The National Assembly, France’s equivalent to The House of Representatives, approved the legislation 335 to 1 and is scheduled for a vote in the Senate in September. If passed, the legislation would impose a $185 fine on women caught outside their homes wearing the full-face coverings. It sets a fine of $38,000 and a one-year prison term for anyone convicted of forcing women and girls to wearing the veils. This fine reflects a widely shared belief in France that Muslim women are forced to cover their faces by their fathers or husbands.

While other European countries have discussed similar legislation, the French ban of the burqa has been a story that has caught international attention. Tuesday's action makes France only the second Western European nation, after Belgium, to move toward banning what has become the most prominent symbol of the Muslim presence across a continent rich in traditions of secularism and Christianity. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center showed that 82 percent of French citizens polled support the prohibition within their country.

France's Interior Ministry has estimated that fewer than 2,000 women wear full-face veils in France, a country of 64 million people, about 5 million of who are Muslims. Still, the issue has become a rallying point for those who say Muslims should work harder to integrate into French society if they choose to live here.

To some, this issue might seem trivial. But in France, if you don’t act, dress, or speak as the French do, you will stand out. As an American who has lived in France, I have seen firsthand the prejudice against those who aren’t French or those who don’t try to assimilate to French culture. If you are purposely distinct within a crowd, the French society sees it as a form of disrespect to French culture. While Americans would see the ban of the burqa as violation of the first amendment, the wearing of the burqa is cited in France as a limit to free speech. Most people in France believe that women are forced to wear the headscarf. Under this assumption, Sarkozy stated, “we cannot have in our country women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity.” The only way they will have freedom is if the headscarf is not worn.

If this law is passed, it will be interesting to see the subsequent laws that are proposed in other countries. A survey also found that 71 percent of Germans, 62 percent of Britons and 59 percent of Spaniards would back similar bans in their own countries. France has been the precedent on the issue but is it only a sign of what is to come across Europe? It will be interesting to see the effect of this new French law on other European countries legislation within the next few months.

If you’re interested in learning more about this topic and the history behind the controversy in France, the book “Politics of the Veil” written by Joan Wallach Scott helps give more perspective to this debate.

-M.A.