There was an amendment passed in April by the French senate that would make it illegal for Muslim girls under the age of 18 to wear a hijab in public. The government introduced this amendment to address religious extremism. French politicians continue to debate over religious Muslim clothing and whether it should be worn, even though amendments against religous Muslim clothing will most likely never become laws. The amendment against hijabs would have to be passed down to the lower part of  Parliament, who is already against the idea of implementing this new rule. Even if the lower part of the Parliament did pass this amendment, the country’s constitutional council would shut that down, making sure it could never go into effect.

The Muslims in France feel “stigmatized.” They feel that instead of trying to bring them together, the government is trying to single them out because of their religion and clothing choices. Muslim women in America created the viral hashtag #handsoffmyhijab to support the young Muslim girls in France. There are have been millions of videos on TikTok and posts on social media from Muslim women to spread awareness and support everyone since France’s senate voted to ban hijabs. This global movement is a response to the silence of some important voices in France. 

This law was made because there is “separatism” supposedly threatening France. The provisions of this law were condemned by major French Human Rights organizations as “violating human rights” and “targeting Muslims.” The new version of the law would restrict Muslims religious freedom like never before. This law would also restrict any person wearing a religious sign or a hijab from sporting events or participating in a sport. 

There are more then 70,000 tweets that “pushed for Muslim women to be considered fully human” and call for lawmakers in France to stop making decisions for Muslim women.

Photo from euractiv.com