French MPs vote to ban Islamic full veil in public

[Sean]

Originally Posted by stimpee

this does of course assume that its the woman who chooses to wear the burka and not the wish of her husband.

Absolutely. Surely, some women do wear it willingly as one of many expressions of their faith. And on the flipside, quotes like Hitchins' assume that every woman who wears a burqa is unwillingly compelled to do so.

If the concern is truly women's rights, then I would expect to see legislation more tailored to combating the core of the issue as opposed to what this is - simply targeting one of it's symptoms. And targeting it in such a way that will actually be harder on the women who ARE compelled to wear burqas by their husbands or clerics no less. Instead of just being forced to wear a burqa, now the woman will also be forced to pay a fine and is left stuck between a rock and a hard place - do as their misogynistic husband is telling them to do or face the consequences, or do as the country's laws are telling them to do or face the consequences?