{"id":12178,"date":"2012-12-04T02:00:09","date_gmt":"2012-12-04T06:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/?p=12178"},"modified":"2012-12-03T22:46:52","modified_gmt":"2012-12-04T02:46:52","slug":"recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Good News Out of Switzerland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Courts in the Swiss canton of Thurgau have overturned on appeal<\/a> the cantonal school district\u2019s decision to forbid two Albanian girls from wearing the headscarf to school. \u00a0The story begins in 2011, when two 14-year-old girls were forbidden from wearing their headscarves to classes.\u00a0 What ensued was a two-year legal battle that saw the school\u2019s decision approved once by the courts, then now overturned. Surprising to me is that the ruling found that a blanket ban on headscarves was disproportionate and without a sound legal basis<\/a> for a general ruling. Not surprising to me, the leader of the school, Rolf Gm\u00fcnder, was quoted (in the NZZ<\/em> article, above) as planning to appeal, in order to gain the \u201csound legal basis\u201d to move forward with an all-out headscarf ban.<\/p>\n

Switzerland, in keeping with its status as confederation, does not have a national policy on headscarves per se. In its direct democracy system, many things decided at the federal level are by referendum (like the minaret ban), but a majority of issues are decided at the cantonal or communal\/district level, and sometimes even case-by-case regarding individual schools.\u00a0 As such, unlike in France, there really haven\u2019t been serious national initiatives on outlawing headscarves.\u00a0 Indeed, there has been local legislation or associative rules aimed at defining how girls and women dress, like the Sura al-Shawk case in Luzern (which I have written about previously at MMW<\/a>) as well as the case of the swimming lessons for girls in Basel (also the topic of a previous article on this site<\/a>), but as of yet no referendum (in a referendum-happy<\/a> country) on access to education for girls and women in headscarves.<\/p>\n

Arguments on the religious permissibility or mandatory nature (or not) of headscarves aside (my pet peeve in talks about Muslim women), this is an important step in providing equal access to education for women. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Girls in headscarves enter a school. Image via RTS.ch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Too many girls are forced to choose against education<\/a> because of these hijab bans meant to \u201cprotect\u201d them. For example, while it is technically possible to wear a headscarf to French universities, this isn\u2019t the case in French schools; therefore, a girl has to make it through high school without a headscarf in order to be able to wear one at university, which still doesn\u2019t guarantee that your particular university<\/a> will accept that you wear one. \u00a0\u00a0Implementing a \u201cheadscarf ban\u201d at the high school level in Switzerland like the one in France would thus be detrimental to girls\u2019 education here.<\/p>\n

Switzerland, unlike other countries in Western Europe, got a significant increase in its \u201cMuslim\u201d population ten or so years later<\/a> than other countries like France, and until recently had a successful guest worker program that made permanent residence less attractive than elsewhere, which is why we are just now seeing a rise in questions other countries in Western Europe addressed in the 1990s and 2000s. I hope that the \u201cconfederate\u201d nature of Swiss democracy is such that these types of unfortunate decisions on hijab bans (unfortunate as in \u201cwhy are we even having this discussion\u201d) will continue to be made on a case-by-case basis which will allow more girls to go to, and finish, school.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courts in the Swiss canton of Thurgau have overturned on appeal the cantonal school district\u2019s decision to forbid two Albanian girls from wearing the headscarf to school. \u00a0The story begins in 2011, when two 14-year-old girls were forbidden from wearing their headscarves to classes.\u00a0 What ensued was a two-year legal battle that saw the school\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":174,"featured_media":12179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13,14],"tags":[388,556,1947,1328],"class_list":["post-12178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culturesociety","category-news","category-politics","tag-education","tag-headscarf","tag-hijab-bans","tag-switzerland"],"yoast_head":"\nRecent Good News Out of Switzerland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Courts in the Swiss canton of Thurgau have overturned on appeal the cantonal school district\u2019s decision to forbid two Albanian girls from wearing the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Recent Good News Out of Switzerland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Courts in the Swiss canton of Thurgau have overturned on appeal the cantonal school district\u2019s decision to forbid two Albanian girls from wearing the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Muslimah Media Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-12-04T06:00:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-12-04T02:46:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/92\/2012\/12\/switzerland-headscarves.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"534\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"301\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nicole\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"nicole\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/\",\"name\":\"Recent Good News Out of Switzerland\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-04T06:00:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-04T02:46:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/0c2ff3ab3c74509a84f69abaed8a3ec7\"},\"description\":\"Courts in the Swiss canton of Thurgau have overturned on appeal the cantonal school district\u2019s decision to forbid two Albanian girls from wearing the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Recent Good News Out of Switzerland\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/\",\"name\":\"Muslimah Media Watch\",\"description\":\"Looking at Muslim women in the media and pop culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/0c2ff3ab3c74509a84f69abaed8a3ec7\",\"name\":\"nicole\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e41109ecb93d5ef3f2e7ca4e00098f99?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e41109ecb93d5ef3f2e7ca4e00098f99?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"nicole\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/author\/nicole\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Recent Good News Out of Switzerland","description":"Courts in the Swiss canton of Thurgau have overturned on appeal the cantonal school district\u2019s decision to forbid two Albanian girls from wearing the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Recent Good News Out of Switzerland","og_description":"Courts in the Swiss canton of Thurgau have overturned on appeal the cantonal school district\u2019s decision to forbid two Albanian girls from wearing the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/","og_site_name":"Muslimah Media Watch","article_published_time":"2012-12-04T06:00:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-12-04T02:46:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"534","height":"301","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/92\/2012\/12\/switzerland-headscarves.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"nicole","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"nicole","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/","name":"Recent Good News Out of Switzerland","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-12-04T06:00:09+00:00","dateModified":"2012-12-04T02:46:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/0c2ff3ab3c74509a84f69abaed8a3ec7"},"description":"Courts in the Swiss canton of Thurgau have overturned on appeal the cantonal school district\u2019s decision to forbid two Albanian girls from wearing the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/12\/recent-good-news-out-of-switzerland\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Recent Good News Out of Switzerland"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/","name":"Muslimah Media Watch","description":"Looking at Muslim women in the media and pop culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/0c2ff3ab3c74509a84f69abaed8a3ec7","name":"nicole","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e41109ecb93d5ef3f2e7ca4e00098f99?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e41109ecb93d5ef3f2e7ca4e00098f99?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"nicole"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/author\/nicole\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/174"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}