French Sports Minister Emilie Odia Castilla said that athletes will be banned from wearing headscarves during the Paris Olympics in accordance with the country's strict secularism laws.
The United Nations has criticized France's decision to ban its Olympic athletes from wearing the Muslim hijab during the 2024 Paris Games. "Nobody needs to tell a woman what she should or shouldn't wear," Marta Hurtado, spokeswoman for the UN rights office, told reporters in Geneva.
Hurtado's comments came as France's sports minister said the country's strict secularism laws would prevent athletes from wearing headscarves during games. Display of religious symbols during competitions is against.
"What does this mean? It means a ban on any kind of preaching, it means total neutrality in public services," he told France 3 television. will wear
"Hurtado did not directly address France's position. But he emphasized that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women outlaws discrimination. Hurtado said that "Any state party to the Convention, which in this case is France, has the responsibility to modify social or cultural patterns that are based on the perception of inferiority or superiority of either sex", "Discrimination against any group". can have harmful consequences”.
"That's why restrictions on the expression of religions or beliefs, such as the choice of clothing, are only acceptable in certain circumstances," explained Hurtado. It added that it meant situations "that address in a necessary and proportionate manner public safety, public order, or legitimate concerns of public health or morality". In France, the issue of religious dress goes to the heart of the country's strict laws on secularism.
They aim to keep the state neutral in religious matters, while guaranteeing citizens the right to practice their religion freely. French laws prohibit the wearing of "cruel" religious symbols in certain contexts, such as public schools and civil servants. It outlawed full-face coverings in 2010. In June, France's Council of State upheld a ban on female footballers wearing the hijab.