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Hotline offers dress code advice to French Muslim schoolgirls
Muslim schoolgirls in the eastern French region of Alsace, an area of high Arab immigration, are seeking advice from a telephone hotline on the appropriate dress code for the new headscarf-free term. France's controversial law banning the Islamic headscarf in schools will be tested for the first time when the new term opens today. And students in Alsace, as in the rest of the country, will have to heed a secularity law which prohibits the wearing of symbols or clothing that "conspicuously" display religious identity. For a week, 25-year-old Nora has been manning a free-phone hotline in a Strasbourg suburb handing out advice to young veiled Muslims on the chances of being turned away from school doors. "There's no miracle solution. The law says clearly that the veil is prohibited," says Nora. Though the law is framed so that no religion is singled out — Jewish stars of David, large Christian crosses and Sikh turbans are also banned — no one disputes that the main target is the headscarf worn by increasing numbers of teenage Muslim girls. "Theoretically, they don't have the right to refuse you access to the yard but in the classroom there is a strong chance that you will be refused and sent away," Nora advises 15-year-old schoolgirl Sarah over the phone.Since the free-phone hotline was set up on August 24, around 30 girls, the majority from the Alsace region bordering Germany, have been in touch seeking advice. There has also been an increasing number of abusive and threatening calls. "Call us, you're not alone!" says one of the dozens of leaflets in the call centre, promising "help through dialogue, moral support, legal assistance, an alternative and support schooling in case of exclusion." "We haven't had time to hand them out. It's word of mouth for the moment," said Nora, herself a law graduate who wears a headscarf completely covering her neck and hair. The hotline is an idea of the Union of Islamic Organisations in France, the League of Muslim Women and an association that legally defends Muslims run by Strasbourg doctor and Muslim convert Thomas Milcent. The Alsace region's Muslim leader Abdulhaq Nabawi, who visited the call centre Tuesday, hailed "all initiatives enabling young women not to find themselves alone in the test. I dare to hope that there will be a normal interpretation of the law and that discreet signs will be admitted," said Milcent. Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-09-02 |
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