It’s published •update
Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredericksen on Thursday called for stricter measures to limit religious symbols and rituals of education, and a ban on the full coverage veil that some Muslim women wear to expand to schools and universities.
The national ban on burqa and niqab in public places introduced in 2018 does not apply to educational institutions.
But Fredericksen, who is also the leader of the country’s Social Democrats, wants to change this and says it was a mistake to limit the ban like this.
“There is a gap between Muslim social control in Danish educational institutions and laws that allow for women to be suppressed,” Fredericksen told domestic media. “You have the right to be a person of faith and practice your religion, but democracy comes first.”
Meanwhile, opponents of the general ban, including civil society organisations such as Amnesty International, said it violated the rights of women to dress as they chose. “Every woman should be able to dress as she pleases and dress to express her identity and beliefs,” the NGO said in 2018.
The announcement is a direct response to recommendations from the Commission for the Fighting of Forgotten Women and called for action earlier this year.
In 2022, a committee formed by the same government proposed that “we would like to impose a ban on wearing hijabs in primary schools to ensure that women from minority backgrounds can enjoy the same rights and freedoms as other Danish women.”
At the time, the ban prompted resentment and protest in Denmark. The plan was rejected in 2023.
Fredericksen also wants to remove the prayer room from the educational institutions, opposes the fact that they have been established in several universities and universities.
The Danish prime minister doesn’t think these rooms will create inclusiveness, but she explained that “provides breeding grounds for discrimination and pressure.”
Fredericksen has not called for a complete ban, but she said that Minister of Education Matthias Tesfai and Minister of Higher Education Christina Egerund will be chatting with schools and universities about finding a common solution and “make it clear that the prayer room does not belong there.”
Danish society cannot allow itself to rule by religious conservatism, Fredericksen told the domestic press.
“You are welcome to have your religion, but when you are in school, you are in school and you are there to participate in your education,” she concluded.
