This week the French Senate voted to approve President Macron’s controversial Separatism Bill. The bill, which was originally drafted to combat “Islamist Separatism” is in fact being criticized for its discriminatory nature and backwards approach.
France has the largest Muslim community in Europe, with 5.7 million Muslims living across the country. The passing of this bill will result in Muslim women being stripped of their identity and the right to practice their religion however they choose.
Another way in which the French government are targeting and suppressing Muslim women is through an amendment to the current law which will ban parents who wear religious clothing from taking part in any school trips or activities.
Although these amendments have been agreed upon, they still need to be passed through the French National Assembly before they can be legally imposed. However, this week's vote makes the success of the amendments likely.
This poses the question: what is France’s persistent obsession with controlling Muslim women within the country? Why are they choosing to fight Islamic radicalism with Muslim girls and how they present themselves instead of educating against islamophobia?
Muslim women and their allies have taken to social media to voice their opposition tothis bill and have started the hashtag #HandsOffMyHijab which is aimed to express their frustration and outrage at the French government singling out their community.
I think the only good thing to come from this story is its international outcry and that it hasn't been normalised by liberals in other countries, because it's honestly scary this wasn't from the far right... but the countries centrist party.