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Mandated or banned? Either way, women lose in the veil debate

November 17, 2025

In 2025, multiple Western nations including Switzerland, Portugal, and Canada's Quebec province have implemented bans on religious face coverings and symbols, particularly affecting Muslim women who wear burqas, niqabs, or hijabs. Quebec's expanding secularism laws now prohibit religious symbols in public schools and plan to extend these restrictions to daycares, with politicians competing to broaden such measures further. This pattern mirrors coercive dress codes in countries like Afghanistan and Iran, where women are forced to cover themselves, revealing a global contradiction where women's clothing choices remain controlled by governments rather than the women themselves.

Who is affected

  • Muslim women who wear hijabs, niqabs, or burqas in Switzerland, Portugal, and Quebec, Canada
  • Teachers, students, and volunteers in Quebec public schools who wear religious symbols
  • Daycare workers and directors in Quebec facing restrictions on religious symbols
  • Children in Quebec schools and daycares affected by staff shortages
  • Religious minorities in Quebec facing marginalization
  • Women in Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt facing mandatory covering laws or traditional pressures

What action is being taken

  • Switzerland is enforcing a nationwide burqa ban
  • Portugal is enforcing a burqa ban
  • Quebec is reinforcing its secularism policy with laws prohibiting face coverings and religious symbols in public schools
  • The Quebec government is planning to ban religious symbols in daycares
  • The Parti Québécois is vowing to ban religious symbols for elementary school students if elected
  • The Coalition Avenir Québec party is planning to restrict public prayers
  • The federal Canadian government is questioning Quebec's use of the "notwithstanding clause" to shield Bill 21 from charter scrutiny
  • Ottawa is arguing that Quebec's repeated use of the clause weakens the Canadian Constitution

Why it matters

  • This issue reveals a fundamental contradiction in how societies define freedom and equality, demonstrating that both forced covering and forced unveiling strip women of bodily autonomy and agency. The restrictions exclude women from education, employment, and economic independence, particularly affecting Muslim women in Western democracies who are pushed to the margins of society for practicing their faith. The debate exposes a dangerous double standard where Western nations condemn religious coercion in other countries while imposing their own dress codes, using secularism as a tool for social engineering rather than genuine liberation. The Supreme Court decision will set precedent for the limits of religious freedom and government control over private choices, potentially affecting minority rights across Canada and beyond.

What's next

  • The Supreme Court will decide on the limits of religious freedom and how far governments can go in shaping private choices
  • Quebec's Coalition Avenir Québec party plans to implement restrictions on public prayers
  • The government plans to ban religious symbols in daycares
  • The Parti Québécois intends to ban religious symbols for elementary school students if elected

Read full article from source: Global Voices