A collaboration between the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law and the Open Society Justice Initiative has produced a fresh update of a policy brief tracking the rise of restrictions on religious dress across the European Union, particularly bans on Muslim women wearing headscarves, face veils, or other clothing items. While only nine of the 27 members of the EU and the United Kingdom have national bans on religious dress worn by Muslim women, private or institutional restrictions exist in 16 nations. The report tracks the arguments used to justify the restrictions — including post-9/11 concerns about national security, gender equality, a desire for assimilation, and religious neutrality — and how courts have responded.
The brief also includes a raft of recommendations for governments, the courts, EU member states, and nonprofit funders to reject bans that curtail Muslim women’s ability to access jobs, education, services, and move freely in public spaces.
Berkeley Law Professor David B. Oppenheimer, the director of the center, supervised students who helped revised the chapters on individual countries, including Renee Coe ’23, Clara Dorfman ’22, Molly Haley ’22, John Karim ’22, Phoebe Lavin ’22, Alyssa Mejia Whisler ’23, José Fernando Rengifo LL.M. ’22, Rana Sahar ’22, and Daryl Yang LL.M. ’22.