• UN criticizes France’s hijab ban for 2024 Olympics.
• French minister cites secularism law for headscarf prohibition.
• UN stresses women’s clothing choices should not be dictated.

The United Nations has criticized France’s decision to prohibit its Olympic athletes from wearing the Muslim hijab during the 2024 Paris Games.

Marta Hurtado, a spokesperson for the UN rights office, stated that no one should dictate what women should or should not wear.

This criticism comes in response to the French sports minister’s announcement that athletes from France would not be allowed to wear headscarves during the Games, in accordance with the country’s strict secularism laws.

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera reiterated the government’s stance against displaying religious symbols during sporting events, emphasizing the need for neutrality in public services and the prohibition of proselytism. She affirmed that the French team would not wear the headscarf.

Hurtado did not directly address France’s position but highlighted that the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women prohibits discriminatory practices. She stressed that states party to the convention, including France, have an obligation to change cultural patterns that promote gender-based inequality. Discriminatory practices against any group can have adverse consequences, and restrictions on religious attire choices are only acceptable when they genuinely address concerns related to public safety, public order, public health, or morals in a necessary and proportionate manner.

In France, the issue of religious clothing is closely tied to the country’s strict secularism laws, which aim to maintain state neutrality in religious matters while preserving citizens’ freedom to practice their religion.

French laws forbid the wearing of “ostentatious” religious symbols in certain contexts, such as state schools and by government employees, and they banned full-face coverings in 2010. In June, France’s Council of State upheld a ban on female footballers wearing the hijab.

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