Oh no, not this shit again.

From the Guardian – http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/03/italy-draft-law-burqa?CMP=twt_gu

Italy has drafted a law that would ban the burqa. My initial reaction, was that it is rather amusing, that Italy, with all the scandals involving Berlusconi, has decided that its most pressing problem is women who  wear the burqa or niqab. I understand why people are uncomfortable with women who wear either the burqa or niqab, whether its for ideological reasons, or for the basic reason that it is difficult to speak to someone when you cannot see their face/facial expressions/body language. However, the fact that something makes me uncomfortable does not give me the right to ban it, especially when its not harming anybody else.

I’m not going to repeat my argument about why I think this is fundamentally a step in the wrong direction for immigrant integration/minority integration into mainstream society, or women’s rights, because I’ve mentioned all of that in my entry on Belgium

What percentage of Muslim women in Italy wear either a burqa or niqab? The article states that the number is rising, and that may  very well be true, but nowhere in the article does it state a percentage, or a percentage increase, or even a number. The government has to have some idea, if they’ve decided its a significant enough problem that they need to draft a law banning the practice. The rational given is to protect women, (which I’ve mentioned before, is totally the wrong way to go about protecting women) and the proposed law state that  “third parties who forced women to cover their faces in public would be fined and face up to 12 months in jail.” This seems like a good idea, as long as the accusation of being forced comes from the woman herself, and not, say, the neighbor – who sees a woman wearing one and assumes that she is forced.

I’m disapointed in the Guardian that the only person this article quotes in opposition to the ban is an Islamic organization, as that seems to portray opposing the ban as supporting extremism, or not supporting women’s rights, despite the fact that there are legitimate. non-religiously motivated reasons to feel uncomfortable with the government legislating what people can and cannot wear.

Muslim immigrants are not new to Europe, therefore, issues around women’s covering and/or public safety are not new, but have been more ore less ignored, and women have been more or less accommodated until recently. It is my belief that this law, like the ones in France, and Belgium, seems to be motivated not by a real concern for women’s well being, or by security issues, but by xenophobia, and a fear of the “other”.  is happening to Europe? The increase in xenophobic/anti-Muslim/anti-immigrant/far right ideology & attitudes is deeply troubling.