Prohibition of the Islamic veil in public teaching: the gender-equality perspective

Abstract

The so-called question of the veil is doing that religious freedom is losing the character of a pacified fundamental right so it is becoming a right among the most contentious, especially in Europe. Against the multicultural approach that seeks to preserve the woman from a bad deal compared to those who belong to the majority culture, we may oppose a different interpretation of equality and non discrimination against women not as «limit of the limits» of the right but as limit imposed on the exercise of religious freedom by a constitutional good that deserves state protection. My purpose is to provide a brief discussion on the doctrine of different European jurisdictions on the Islamic headscarf in public education, in particular the European Court of Human Rights, and consider whether a ban can have a place in our constitutional system, especially in the light of the principle of equality and gender discrimination.