Recently, three French cities – Cannes, Villeneuve-Loubet and Corsican village Sisco – have implemented a ban on burkinis, the colloquial term for full-body swimwear that covers a woman’s hair and body, leaving only the face uncovered.
Advertisement
Near Cannes, the hardline mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet, Lionnel Luca, from Nicolas Sarkozy’s Les Republicains party, also banned the burkini, saying it was unhygienic to swim fully clothed.
“Here in France we have a principle of secularism… but this law only talks about Muslim women”, Feiza Ben Mohamed, spokesperson for the Southern Federation of Muslims, told The Local about the burkini ban in Cannes.
She added that burqinis represent a “deeply archaic vision of the place of women in society and, thus, the relationship between men and women”.
Arguments against the burkini range from upholding women’s rights to curbing terrorism ― both of which many Muslims reject and find blatantly offensive.
In fairness, the fight was likely a tipping point in France’s longstanding crusade against religious attire ― the brunt of which Muslim women have experienced most intensely in recent years.
The situation took a turn for the worse after a group of young Corsicans tried to the defend the tourists that they say had been falsely accused of snapping the burkini-clad women. He is the first mayor to ban burkinis, describing the measure as necessary to “protect the population”.
Tensions grew Sunday, when an impromptu rally was held and almost 200 demonstrators marched on the city’s Lupino district, where many families of North African descent live, according to the BBC.
Five people were injured and three cars burned as the rival sides hurled stones and bottles. He said the burkini raised hygiene issues and could make rescue at sea more hard. French media that covered the event did not name her, identifying her only as “a minor”.
Bans on the full-body beachwear have been introduced by several French towns this summer in a move that has sparked fierce national debate. “The burkini is not a new range of swimwear, a fashion”, he told La Provence, according to The Independent.
Cannes Mayor David Lisnard called the so-called burkini “the uniform of extremist Islamism, not of the Muslim religion”. “Here we are telling Muslims that no matter what you do even we don’t want you here”.
Advertisement
Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk.
