Woman alleges religious discrimination; authorities say it is because of pool hygiene standards, which allows only figure-hugging swimwear
Woman alleges religious discrimination; authorities say it is because of pool hygiene standards, which allows only figure-hugging swimwearA Muslim woman garbed in a head-to-toe swimsuit dubbed a burqini may have opened a new chapter in France's tussle between religious practices and its stern secular code.
Officials insisted yesterday they banned the woman's use of the suit at a local pool because of France's pool hygiene standards not out of hostility to the overtly Muslim garb.
Under the policy, swimmers are not allowed in pools with baggy clothing, including surfer-style shorts. Only figure-hugging suits are permitted.
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Cover Drive: A model wears a 'burqini' on a surf lifesaving patrol at a Sydney beach. |
Nonetheless the woman, a 35-year-old convert to Islam identified only as Carole, complained of religious discrimination after trying to go swimming in a burqini, in the town of Emerainville.
She told the Le Parisien newspaper that she had bought the burqini after deciding "it would allow me the pleasure of bathing without showing too much of myself, as Islam recommends. For me this is nothing but segregation," she said.
The issue of religious attire is a hot topic in France, where head-to-toe burqas or other full-body coverings worn by some Muslim fundamentalists are in official disfavor.
France is home to western Europe's largest Muslim population, estimated at 5 million, and Islam is the nation's second religion after Roman Catholicism.
A 2004 law banning the wearing of Muslim head scarves at public schools sparked fierce debate. That legislation also banned Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses in public classrooms.
French lawmakers recently revived the issue of Muslim dress with a proposal that the burqa and other voluminous Muslim attire be banned.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, a conservative, backs the move, saying such garb makes women prisoners.
