School Bans Muslim Girl From Wearing Long Skirt in France, Sparks Outrage
A French school has sent home a 15-year-old Muslim girl for wearing a long skirt which it deemed violated the school's secular policy.
The girl, identified as Sarah K. by the French newspaper L'Ardennais, was sent home by the principal, Maryse Dubois, of the Léo-Lagrange College in Charleville-Mezieres twice last April 16 and 25 for wearing a long black skirt.
The incident sparked a backlash online with people tweeting the hashtag JePorteMaJupeCommeJeVeux, or "I wear my skirt how I want to."
Nicolas Cadene, an adviser to the prime minister on secular issues, said wearing a long black skirt to school is not a violation, according to a BBC report.
In 2004, a ban on Muslim headscarves and other religious symbols at state schools was implemented.
"The 2004 law says that symbols and clothing worn to show religious affiliation are prohibited," Cadene told Buzzfeed in French.
"We obviously think of the veil, the kippah, a large cross, a Sikh turban... A black skirt do not contravene the law," Cadene added.
According to Hugh Schofield of BBC News Paris, "The 2004 law was supposed to settle once and for all the problem of religious signs in schools."
He found it silly for any school to raise undue concern over a skirt. "It may sound silly for the academic establishment to get exercised over an ankle-length skirt, which has been in and out fashion for many years," he said.
"But the point for the school is not so much the garment as the attitude. If Muslim girls start wearing long skirts in a conspicuous effort to show their faith, then some will argue that is a breach of the 2004 law," he added.
About 130 similar incidents were reported in France last year.
France banned the full-face Islamic veil called the niqab in public places in 2011.
The ban was challenged before the European Court of Human Rights by a 24-year-old French woman, who argued that it violated her freedom of religion and expression. But the court rejected her plea and upheld the ban.
France has about five million Muslims – the largest Muslim minority in Western Europe. However, sources said only about 2,000 women wear full veils.