This summer more than a dozen coastal areas along the French coast, including Cannes and Nice, had banned the burkini which was perceived as a symbol of the Islamization of the West and terror. Wearing it was penalized with rebukes, fines and even worse mockery. For many women, the Burkini, however, is seen as a tool of empowerment. So why were so many people so keen on the ban?
A burkini is not a Burka also if they are often mixed up! The Burkini is a type of swimsuit that covers the whole body except for the face, feet and hands, that was designed by the Australian (and Muslim) Aheda Zanetti. She has designed the Burkini in order to help Muslim girls and women adapt to western clothing and lifestyles while at the same time fulfilling the modesty of Islamic clothes. With the design of the Burkini Zanetti tried to integrate female Muslims and give them more freedom and greater mobility. For Muslim women, the Burkini, therefore, does not symbolize Islam or religion but rather leisure, happiness, fitness and health. It was and is meant to be a medium of liberation not a medium of oppression; it has encouraged and allowed religious girls and women to take part in swimming lessons, go to the beach and even to take parts in the Olympic Games.
On the other hand the clothing that most people in the West call the Burka but is actually called the Niquab (the Burka is a traditional Afghan clothing that covers the whole body and even the eyes), is a full body garment that covers the whole body, only exposing the eyes through a slit, is not empowering but rather a mean to oppress and depersonalizing women. It also has to be noted that the Niquab is only a traditional, not a religious garment; the Coran does not mention the full veiling of the woman and indeed hiding the face is not permitted in Islam’s most holy places and especially during the pilgrimage. The Niquab is a violation of human rights; women cannot articulate, eat properly and perceive their environment properly … she cannot be an active member of a democratic society as she cannot express her opinion and defend her rights. Therefore it is totally understandable that it is banned in France for 6 years and should also be banned in Germany.
We have to think about and evaluate our actions when it comes to integration and living together in a multicultural society. Before banning something or making a new rule we should always question what this action might lead to in the future. Banning the Burkini does not have the aim to cause the empowerment and liberation of the women in the European sense, to ensure that hygiene regulations are met or to protect the great public against terror. Rather it is a product of newly emerging islamophobia that has been fueled by terror attacks around Europe. Banning the Burkini from public swimming places, without any background knowledge and research, would further segregate Muslims (especially women) from the rest of society. And segregation has in turn often enough shown to lead to misunderstandings, conflict, ghetto formation and the fueling of fundamentalist ideas. We should use our energy, funding and time to fight real issues rather than forbidding tool that envisions the empowerment of the women.