Ban Against Niqāb Is Discrimination

The Swedish Ombudsman against discrimination (DO), Mrs. Katri Linna, this week finally published her long-awaited ruling in a case where a Swedish school wished to ban a student for wearing a niqāb.

A general ban on students to attend classes wearing the niqāb is contrary to the Discrimination Act, the ombudsman found. 
 
The notifier in this case is a young Muslim woman who, for religious reasons, wears the niqāb, a garment that hides the face except the eyes. In January 2009 she began a one-year child caring education at a school in Stockholm. The school has a policy that forbids students from wearing clothing that covers the face. The woman was told she could not attend the program as long as she wore the niqāb. She then made a complaint to the DO.

Stockholm City justified its ban by the educational and social reasons and the need to identify persons who are in school. When the woman reported the school to the DO the school agreed that she would be allowed to remain in education until the DO reached a decision on the matter.

"Since A, despite the ban has been attending training, it is not obvious that there is a disadvantage according to the anti-discrimination law. The issue addressed in the case concerns a limited number of women and in the few cases where the matter has been raised it seems the schools have been able to find practical solutions in accordance with the anti-discrimination law's intentions.

DO therefore chooses not to pursue the matter to court for judicial review.As ombudsman against discrimination, I am worried about the acrimony and the simplifications that have characterized the debate about the niqab. Many have wished to exclude women who wear it from participating in training courses, from the perspective that the niqab is an expression of women's oppression and must be fought.

The protection of everyone's basic rights is one of the foundations of our democracy. Unlike other countries who through prohibitions or commands seek to direct  the citizens into a particular religious or non-religious direction, Sweden has chosen to uphold the democratic principle of the individuals free will to express or not to express their religious beliefs.

As ombudsman against discrimination I choose the principle to protect all womens and mens equal rights and opportunities and I do so based on the framework set by Parliament for our society.

To exclude women wearing the niqab from education does not promote their or other women's equality.

Disrespect towards women is expressed in many ways in all cultures, such as through the sexualization of women's bodies, or by referring women to manage home and children. But such expressions cannot be eliminated by isolating individual women from basic arenas in society.

I believe instead that education can be a platform for women to continue to develop and shape their own choices. Education is the basis for access to employment and thus access to a social context outside the home and the opportunity to support themselves. Education is a key to the closed doors that still exclude women and slow the progression towards full equality.

This long-term effort should include all women, regardless of their religious belief and choice of clothing."