Top French Court Upholds Abaya Ban in Schools

France’s top administrative court upheld Thursday a government ban on girls in state schools wearing abayas, rejecting complaints that it was discriminatory and could incite hatred.

The government announced just before schools reopened this week that the abaya, a long, flowing dress worn by some Muslim women, would no longer be allowed because it violated the French principle of secularism or laïcité.

An association representing Muslims – Action for the Rights of Muslims (ADM) – had filed an urgent motion with the state council, France’s highest court for complaints against state authorities. 

They called for an injunction against the ban, saying it was discriminatory and could incite hatred against Muslims, as well as racial profiling. The association argued the ban contravened children’s rights by “principally targeting children presumed to be Muslim, creating a risk of ethnic profiling at school”.

ADM’s lawyer, Vincent Brengarth, said the abaya should be considered a traditional garment, not a religious one, and the government was trying to use the ban for political advantage. The ADM president, Sihem Zine, said the rule was “sexist” because it singled out girls and targeted those of North African or African heritage.

But after examining the motion for two days the state council rejected the arguments. It said wearing the abaya “follows the logic of religious affirmation”, adding that the decision was based on French law, which does not allow anyone to wear visible signs of any religious affiliation in schools.

The ban by the government did not, it said, cause “serious or obviously illegal harm to the respect for personal lives, freedom of religion, the right to education, the wellbeing of children or the principle of non-discrimination”.

The government’s ban on abayas, strongly supported by the president, Emmanuel Macron, has caused a political row over France’s secularism rules and whether they discriminate against the country’s Muslim minority.

Ahead of the ruling, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), an official body representing Muslims in France, had warned that banning the abaya could create “an elevated risk of discrimination” and said it was considering putting its own complaint before the state council.

The absence of “a clear definition of this garment creates vagueness and legal uncertainty”, it said.

The education ministry said the abaya made its wearers “immediately recognisable as belonging to the Muslim religion” and therefore ran counter to France’s secular culture in schools.