As the Paris Olympics approach, athletes from across the globe spend their days in ecstatic anticipation; all except the minority Muslim women representing France.
French authorities have prohibited French athletes from wearing hijabs for the Paris Olympics; a decision which was met with frustration.
Absolute neutrality
In September, France´s sports minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera, stated that France´s secularism principle will be applied to the Olympic Games; “That means the prohibition of any type of proselytising and the absolute neutrality of the public service. Which means that the representatives of our delegations, in our French teams, will not wear the headscarf.”
Muslim women in France have been accustomed to these regulations, as France has banned wearing hijabs and headscarves in public schools since 2004, but considering this year´s Olympics were promoted as the first Gender Equal Olympics, the women had high hopes.
Gender Equal Olympics
As claimed by the 10C, the World Economic Forum and the French government, the 2024 Paris Olympics will have a 50 per cent participation rate between men and women, making it the first “equal” competition in its history.
The Olympic Charter states; “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
What a woman wears
On July 16, Amnesty International called France´s ban discriminatory and hypocritical, considering their Charter and claims.
Amnesty International´s women´s-rights researcher in Europe, Anna Blus stated in a recent report; “Banning French athletes from competing with sports hijabs at the Olympic and Paralympic Games makes a mockery of claims that Paris 2024 is the first Gender Equal Olympics and lays bare the racist gender discrimination that underpins access to sport in France.”
Amnesty International released a statement; “The bans undermine efforts to make sports more inclusive and mean that Muslim players and athletes who wear a hijab in France will continue to be discriminated against.”
The United Nations also criticised the ban, saying; “No one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear, or not wear.”
Only in France
The French Sports Ministry clarified that athletes could wear hijabs in the Olympic Village but not while competing. In addition to hijabs, athletes are prohibited from wearing “any other accessory or garment expressing their religious affiliation when representing France in a national or international sporting competition.”
Athletes from other countries, however, have to follow rules set by their federations and the International Olympic Committee. France is now the only country in which the hijab ban is in place.
“We are always left out, we are always left out. Our voice never gets through,” reported one French Muslim athlete to Amnesty International. Another one added; “It´s not just a Muslim issue, it´s a human issue.”
