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The French senate is to vote on a bill that would ban niqab or face-covering veils in public, a proposal that has sparked fierce debate in a country that is home to one of Europe's largest Muslim populations.
Senators are expected to comfortably approve the bill, after it was passed in the lower house by 335 votes to one in July.
Critics of the proposed law hope that the law will eventually be overturned by the constitutional council, France's highest legal body.
If implemented, women caught wearing the niqab in public places including streets, markets, government buildings, private businesses and public transport would be fined $190.
Men who ‘force’ their wives or daughters to cover for religious reasons would also face tougher penalties of up to $38,685 and a one-year jail term.
Concerns over Islamaphobia
Supporters of the bill insist it is aimed at ‘integration’, rather than stigmatizing a minority group. Only around 2,000 women in France wear a face-covering veil, out of a Muslim community of around five million.
But Muslim women argue that such a law would force them to stay at home so as to avoid showing their faces in public.
Some rights groups have also voiced concern that the legislation would risk raising Islamaphobia, in a country where some Muslim women already face harassment for wearing the veil.
The bill to ban the veil would take effect only after a six-month period set aside for mediation and explanation.
The legislation is carefully worded to ensure it passes potential legal minefields. The measure is called "Forbidding the Dissimulation of the Face in the Public Space", making no mention of "woman," "veil" or "Islam."
The language was tweaked in similar fashion when a ban on Muslim headscarves was passed in 2004, with the law outlawing all "ostentatious" religious symbols, including large Christian crosses.
PHOTO CAPTION
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Al-Jazeera
