THE United Nations (UN) has berated France for placing a ban on its athletes from wearing Hijab at the 2024 Paris Games.
The spokeswoman of the United Nations (UN) rights office, Marta Hurtado, made this criticism to reporters in Geneva, on Tuesday.
The criticism comes after French Sports Minister announced that the country’s athletes would be barred from wearing Muslim headscarves during the Games, in line with the France’s strict rules on secularism.
“No-one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear or not wear,” she said.
“What does that mean? That means a ban on any type of proselytising. That means absolute neutrality in public services.
“The France team will not wear the headscarf,” Hurtado told France 3 television.
She explained that the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women kicked against discriminatory practices such as this.
“Any state party to the convention — in this case France — has an obligation to … modify social or cultural patterns which are based on the idea of the inferiority or superiority of either sexes.
“Discriminatory practices against a group can have harmful consequences.
“That is why … restrictions on expressions of religions or beliefs, such as attire choices, are only acceptable under really specific circumstances,” she explained.
She went further to explain that it includes circumstances “that address legitimate concerns of public safety, public order, or public health or morals in a necessary and proportionate fashion.”