UpFront examines discrimination and secularism in France after the federal government bans the abaya in public colleges.
As colleges start once more, the French authorities introduced a ban on the abaya – a full-length gown ceaselessly worn by Muslim girls – in public colleges.
This latest choice has generated controversy in France. A number of opponents protested in entrance of public colleges, questioning the true motive behind this new rule.
Why is that this choice so contentious? And what will be justified beneath France’s secularism legal guidelines?
On UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill talks with Rokhaya Diallo, a French journalist and filmmaker, to discover the explanations and penalties behind the ban on the abaya in public colleges.
