France is banning women athletes from wearing the hijab at the Paris Olympic Games, causing controversy.
25-year-old French basketball player Salimata Sylla, excluded from a match because of her headscarf, poses for a photo in Paris, France. (Photo credit: Getty)
In Sep. 2023, the French sports minister, announced that none of France's Olympic team athletes will be allowed to wear the hijab during the 2024 Olympics.
France's Minister for Sports and Olympics Amelie Oudea-Castera leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris. (Photo credit: Getty)
France has banned girls from wearing the hijab in schools since 2004, and in 2010, it banned full face coverings in public.
Hind Ahmas, 32, leaves the court after being convicted as the first woman wearing a niqab after France's nationwide ban on the wearing of face veils on September 22, 2011 in Meaux, France. (Photo credit: Getty)
The French government said these bans are because the country needs to uphold secularism, which is the separation of religion and the state.
A woman in front at Palais-Royal, home of the Council of State (French: Conseil d'Etat), a body of the French national government that acts both as legal adviser of the executive branch and as the supreme court for administrative justice. (Photo credit: Getty)
The principle of secularism came from the French Revolution, which sought to weaken the power of the Catholic Church in public life.
25-year-old French basketball player Salimata Sylla, excluded from a match because of her headscarf, poses for a photo in Paris, France. (Photo credit: Getty)
And in 1905, the country passed a law that ensures the country is neutral in religious matters.
A woman wearing a "Niqab" veil participates in a protest on February 6, 2010 in Tours, central France. (Photo credit: Getty)
However, the law has come under criticism in its recent years as it disproportionately affects Muslim women, and France has a large Muslim population.
A woman with a headscarf shows a drawing reading 'My veil, my choice, Free'. (Photo credit: Getty)
The hijab ban at the Olympics has caused a controversy because the International Olympic Committee had branded Paris as the "first gender equal Olympics".
25-year-old French basketball player Salimata Sylla, excluded from a match because of her headscarf, poses for a photo in Paris. (Photo credit: Getty)
Human rights groups have condemned the ban, saying women should be free to wear what they want.
25-year-old French basketball player Salimata Sylla, excluded from a match because of her headscarf, poses for a photo in Paris. (Photo credit: Getty)
Rights groups say that the ban excludes women and girls and forces them to drop out of sports they love.
Women calling themselves the "Hidjabers" play football in the Luxembourg garden facing the French Senate in Paris. (Photo credit: Getty)
In response, the IOC said that athletes can wear the hijab in the Olympic village, but that "freedom of religion is interpreted in many different ways by different states," implying that it will not intervene on France's policy.
Isha Jain
