Austrian lawmakers today adopted a ban on Islamic headscarves for girls under the age of 14 — a law intended to protect them, but which legal experts and human rights groups consider discriminatory.

The law was approved by a strong majority, with only the Greens opposing it as unconstitutional.

A first attempt to ban headscarves in schools — introduced in 2019 by the conservative–far-right coalition government — was rejected a year later by Austria’s Constitutional Court, which ruled that it was discriminatory.

However, the current government, led by the conservatives and defending the bill as a measure to protect girls and young teens, expressed confidence that this time the law complies with the Constitution.

During deliberations, NEOS party leader Yannick Shetty stated that “this is a good law… that will help prohibit cultural oppression to some extent.”

According to Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm, “when an eight- or nine-year-old girl is forced to cover her body to protect herself from the gaze of men… then this is not a religious ritual but oppression.”

The ban, which applies to “all forms” of Islamic headscarves within school premises, is expected to fully enter into force at the start of the school year in September, Plakolm clarified when presenting the law.

However, beginning in February there will be an initial phase during which the new rules will be explained to teachers and children, without penalties for non-compliance. If non-compliance occurs again later, parents may face fines ranging from €150 to €800.

According to the government, about 12,000 girls and teenagers are affected by the new law — an estimate based on a 2020 study indicating that 3,000 children under the age of 14 wear headscarves.

Human rights organizations denounce the measure as discriminatory, warning that it may further divide Austrian society and fuel anti-Muslim racism in the country of nine million people, where anti-immigrant sentiment has intensified in recent years, particularly toward Muslims.

“It will further isolate them”

For Amnesty International Austria, the law “constitutes blatant discrimination against young Muslim girls” and risks “reinforcing existing prejudices and stereotypes against Muslims.”

The IGGÖ, the official organization representing the country’s Muslim communities, believes the law will stigmatize the affected children, “undermine trust in the rule of law, and endanger social cohesion.”

Angelika Auzinger, director of the Amazone association in Vorarlberg (western Austria), also denounced a law that risks “further isolating” the affected children and giving them the impression that it is “legitimate” for others to control their bodies, according to a statement released by the anti-racist organization SOS Mitmensch.

The far-right FPÖ party, which came first in the 2024 parliamentary elections but failed to form a government, is calling to go further by extending the ban to higher levels of education.

The governing coalition insists the ban will not be overturned a second time, arguing that its goal is to protect children’s rights, which are constitutionally guaranteed.

However, constitutional lawyer and University of Vienna professor Heinz Mayer disputes this, recalling that in 2020 Austria’s high court ruled that by targeting only the Islamic headscarf, “one religion is being discriminated against” compared with others.

The court also held that “if the headscarf is a symbol of oppression,” banning it in schools means that the affected children are placed in an “uncomfortable position” relative to those who impose it on them, he told AFP.

In France, authorities banned in 2004 students from wearing “symbols or clothing” that “openly display their religious beliefs,” such as headscarves, turbans, and kippahs.

Source: AMNA (AΠΕ-ΜΠΕ)