There has been much controversy surrounding the Paris Olympics, which are scheduled to start this Friday, ranging from attempts to disqualify nations to the Seine River's water quality. The host nation has now been charged with "racist gender discrimination" in relation to its decision to forbid its athletes from donning the hijab during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
When France's sports minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, pledged to respect the nation's strong secularism regulations in September of last year, she alluded to the restriction, which forbids athletes representing France from donning any religious garb.
The secularist ideal known as laïcité in France forbids the wearing of any clothes or insignia that indicate one's religious affiliation in places like government buildings, sports arenas, or schools. Many have countered that the ban appears to target Muslim women and girls in particular, as they have been forbidden from donning headscarves in some places for the past 20 years.
When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) informed Reuters that "there are no restrictions on wearing the hijab or any other religious or cultural attire," there was hope that athletes would be allowed to express their faith and their nation. This is accurate—aside from athletes representing France in competition.
Athletes will only be permitted to wear hijabs in the Olympic Village—not during competition, according to the French Sports Ministry. Though athletes from other nations may wear hijabs and other religious headgear as long as their national federations allow them, the IOC itself does not forbid them.
Human rights organizations have been quick to draw attention to the irony of France's prohibition on hijabs for athletes, given that the competition is being hailed as the "Gender Equal Olympics" due to the equal participation of men and women.
Both the competition and the IOC's pledge to achieve complete gender parity at the Paris Olympics are reasons for joy. Countries and cultures come together during the Olympics to compete and to form communities. Therefore, many believe that France's ban on religious head coverings contradicts the values that the competition has come to stand for.
"Banning French athletes from competing with sports hijabs at the Olympic and Paralympic Games makes a mockery of claims that Paris 2024 is the first Gender Equal Olympics and lays bare the racist gender discrimination that underpins access to sport in France," stated Anna Bluś, a spokesman for Amnesty International. In a recent study, Amnesty International denounces the judgment as "racist gender discrimination" and refers to it as a "violation."
No woman should be forced to choose between her love of a sport and her faith, cultural identity, or values, nor should any policymaker determine what a woman may or cannot wear.
Amnesty International's Anna Bluś
Numerous female athletes from France have expressed their hurt at not even being allowed to try out for the qualifications because of the ban. "Being denied the opportunity to represent my native country due to my religious beliefs is extremely upsetting," 24-year-old basketball star Diaba Konaté stated during a news conference earlier this year.
Bluś has described in detail the impact of France's prohibition on women and girls—who already face significant obstacles in their pursuit of sports—in a 32-page study from Amnesty International. "Discrimination laws that control women's attire violate the human rights of Muslim women and girls and severely hinder their ability to participate in sports, impeding efforts to make sports more accessible and inclusive," the speaker stated.
Girls are three times as likely than boys to quit sports, per a new Women in Sport poll. This feels like a cruel blow to many and serves as a reminder that women still lack autonomy over their own image at a time when greater efforts are being made to encourage young girls to stay in sport. In the UK, 64% of all secondary schoolgirls give up sport before they turn 16.
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