The French Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill barring women from wearing the full facial veil anywhere in public. If the law is approved by France’s constitutional council, it will go into effect next spring and set a range of fines for women, including tourists, who wear the full veil. It also provides criminal penalties for those who force women to wear it. The vote was 246 to 1, with many abstentions from left-wing legislators; the bill passed the lower house in July.
Critics say that the measure stigmatizes one sex of one religion, but the law is very popular with the public and proponents say it defends traditional French values like women’s rights and secularism.
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Thursday, September 16, 2010
France: Bill On Veils Passed
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Again, a dodgy situation. I can see where the veil could be misused, but at the same time it is abusing a woman's rights. What about the funeral veil? and I seem to recall veils in use in England as a fashion through to the fifties. Are they banned also?
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