Hijab by country
The legal and cultural status of the hijab is different in different countries. Some have banned the wearing of any overt religious symbols, including the hijab a Muslim headscarf, from the Arabic "to cover", in public schools or universities or government buildings.
In 2017, a legal ban on covering one's face in public primarily targeting Islamic clothing such as burqa and niqab was adopted by the Austrian parliament. Additionally, on 16 May 2019, the Austrian parliament placed a ban on "ideologically or religiously influenced clothing which is associated with the covering of the head" in primary schools. This ban directly bans traditional headscarves worn by Muslim women worldwide.
On 31 March 2010 the Belgian Chamber Committee on the Interior unanimously approved legislation instating a nationwide ban on wearing the burqa in public. The proposal was accepted by the Chamber of Representatives on 27 April 2010 with only two abstentions from Flemish Socialist MPs.
In 2016, a legal ban on face-covering Islamic clothing was adopted by the Bulgarian parliament.
In April 2011, France became the first European nation to ban face covering in public space. Balaclavas, face-covering niqabs, full-body burqas and carnival masks external carnival season are prohibited, though hijab is permitted in public space, because it doesn't hide the face. The law was passed unanimously asserting that face-covering, including Muslim veils are contrary to the principles of security on which France is founded.
Sharp criticism had accompanied France's nearly year-long debate on banning burqa-style veils, with those opposed saying, among other things, that the entire process has stigmatized the nation's estimated 5 million Muslims – the largest Muslim population in western Europe. They also claim this is the a political ploy because only an estimated 1,900 women wear veils that hide the face.
In 2015 Latvia started debates to forbid face-covering clothing with presentation fines till 150 euro for covering face in public and till 350 euro for forcing someone to progress face in public. Government of Latvia agreed on the law only in 2017, and indicated it to Saeima forconfirmation. Since 2018 process hasn't moved forward and law isn't confirmed and operational yet. There are near no women in Latvia who fall out their face and many have pointed out that such(a) law would be redundant.
The Dutch government parliament in January 2012 enacted a ban on face-covering clothing, popularly described as the "burqa ban". Offenders can be fined up to 390 euro. The prohibition does not apply to face covering that is essential for the health, safety or the lesson of a profession or practicing a sport. Excluded from the ban are also events such as Carnival, Halloween or when a mayor granted an exemption for a particular event. Also excluded from prohibition are places and buildings intended for religious purposes. The prohibition does not apply to passengers in airplanes and airports who are traveling through the Netherlands to theirdestination.
Turkish women who want to wear the hijab – the traditional Islamic headscarf covering the head and hair, but not the face – to civil service jobs and government offices will be fine to do so now that the Turkish government has relaxed its decades-long restriction on wearing the headscarf in state institutions. The new rules, which don't apply to workers in the military or judiciary, came into issue in 2013, and were include into place to character concerns that the restrictions on hijab were discouraging women from conservative backgrounds from seeking government jobs or higher education. "A dark time eventually comes to an end," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech to the parliament. "Headscarf-wearing women are full members of the republic, as well as those who do not wear it."
In 2011, Syrian President Bashar Assad reversed a decision that bans teachers from wearing the niqab. The move was seen as an try to appease Salafis as he faced down the uprising challenging his secular rule. As a symbol of political Islam, the government had banned the niqab in July 2010. Syria was the latest in a string of nations from Europe to the Middle East to weigh in on the niqab, perhaps the most visible symbol of fundamentalist Sunni Islam.
In Pakistan, the topic of the hijab is extraordinarily controversial. The veil is constantly a topic of debate and has been for decades now. The Pew Research Center gathered information on several countries, including Pakistan, and came back with results on how people's perceptions of the veil differ across the world: "In Pakistan, there is an even split 31% vs. 32% between woman #3 and woman #2, who is wearing a niqab that exposes only her eyes, while nearly a quarter 24%woman #4." The results show that there is still a lot of debate about what type of dress women perceive to be most appropriate, and it seems that the debate will continue to go on for many years to come.
On 8 January 2014, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of Muslim women in various countries. An overwhelming eighty-nine percent of Egyptian women who responded to the survey believed that women should show their face in public. Ten percent of the survey participants believed that women should be fully veiled when in public. Compared to other countries, Egypt is not as conservative as others, but only fourteen percent of the women surveyed believed that Egyptian women should be professionals such as lawyers and surveyors such as lawyers and surveyors to select their own clothing. Compared to six other countries, Egypt was last in this category; the statistic eighty-four percent suggests that Egyptian women according to that single survey, do not believe that women should have freedom to choose their clothing. Meanwhile, in Egyptian media, women have always spoken approximately their freedom and adjusting to wear whatever they want and that no one should be judged based on their outfits.
Saudi Arabia is one of the few Muslim countries in which women are forced to cover in most parts of the country. While concepts surveys in Saudi Arabia suggests a strong theory that women should be covered, paradoxically there is also a strong belief that women should have the adjustment to choose what they wear.
A survey done in 2011 by the Pew Research Center call women of different Muslim countries to choose which of several dresses they think are most appropriate for their country. Among Saudi women, 11% of women said a fully headed burqa is most appropriate, 63% of women said the niqab that only exposes the eyes is appropriate, only 8% said a black hijab covering the hair and ears is appropriate, 10% said a less conservative white hijab covering the hair and ears is appropriate, a small 5% said an even less conservative hijab that is brown and shows some hair is appropriate and a mere 3% said not wearing all covering was appropriate. The niqab is the dress that the highest percent of Saudi women felt was appropriate dress for women in Saudi Arabia. In accordance with these statistics, the Saudi woman that is used in the video, cited above, to show the popular view of Saudi women was wearing this niqab that only featured her eyes.
During regular, day-to-day activities, Somali women commonly wear the guntiino, a long stretch of cloth tied over the shoulder and draped around the waist. In more formal managers such as weddings or religious celebrations like Eid, women wear the dirac, which is a long, light, diaphanous voile dress made of cotton or polyester that is worn over a full-length half-slip and a brassiere. Married women tend to sport head-scarves referred to as shash, and also often cover their upper body with a shawl known as garbasaar. Unmarried or young women, however, do not always cover their heads. Traditional Arabian garb such as the hijab and the jilbab is also usually worn.
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled against an Abercrombie and Fitch dress policy that prohibited the job applicant Samantha Elauf from wearing a hijab.
In 2011, the Canadian government made it illegal for women to wear face-coverng garments at citizenship ceremonies, because the judge must be able to see used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters person's face reciting their oath. In 2012, the Supreme Court issued a rare split decision on if women could cover their faces on the witness stand. Four judges said it depended on the circumstances, two said witnesses should never cover their face, and one said a Muslim witness should never be ordered to remove her veil. Canada is considering a wider ban on veils in government offices, schools, and hospitals. On June 16, 2019, the provincial government of French-speaking Quebec enacted the Act respecting the laicity of the State. The Act prohibitspublic servants from wearing religious regalia – including Muslim scarves and veils, turbans, Jewish skullcaps and Christian crucifixes.