The Social Democratic Party in Denmark, which is in power, established the Danish Commission for the Forgotten Women’s Struggle, which has proposed that the government outlaw hijabs (Muslim headscarves) for pupils in Danish elementary schools.
One of nine proposals with the declared goal of eliminating “honor-related social control” of girls from minority backgrounds is the one made on August 24.
The other suggestions call for offering Danish language classes, encouraging contemporary methods of raising children in ethnic minority homes, and enhancing sexual education in primary schools.
If the ban is put in place, Huda Makai Asghar, 15, will have to remove her headscarf. The ninth grader has been donning the hijab for two years at the Kokkedal Skole, a school west of Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark.
According to Asghar, the idea of a ban violates both her rights and the freedom of other girls like her, and it is unjust to require her to remove her headscarf.” I’ve always heard that Denmark allows for religious freedom. I’m free to believe what I want and wear whatever I want. I was therefore shocked to learn about the plan”.
The proposal has received prompt backlash in Denmark. A prominent opponent of the plan is Iram Khawaja, an associate professor at the Danish School of Education at Aarhus University.
The 37-year-old activist and midwife Lamia Ibnhsain organized the “Hands off our hijabs” rally. Ibnhasain said: “I came to understand that our voices are silenced in society” she claimed that after the ban proposal, she experienced “a lot of uncomfortable sentiments.”
