French Olympians banned from wearing hijab, human rights group says it’s discrimination

When the 2024 Olympic Games begin this week, France will not allow its athletes to wear headscarves during the Games, a move that would seem to go against the Olympic Charter’s calls for respect for religion and protection of human rights.

A recent report from Amnesty International called France’s restrictions on religious dress outright discrimination, and a researcher for the human rights nonprofit told NPR Morning edition that the measure is not only unfair, but could also lead to structural problems for female athletes in France.

The bans have a wider impact on women in sport, destroying the hopes of female athletes in France, said Anna Błuś, a researcher for Amnesty International. Amateur football, basketball and volleyball leagues also do not allow women to wear hijabs while playing.

“They reach a point where they are constantly being asked to take off their clothes, to give up part of their identity if they want to move forward,” Błuś said. “And many of the women I spoke to said they didn’t see a future for themselves in France and were planning to leave the country and compete for other national teams.”

The technical reason behind the French ban

The International Olympic Committee said in a statement to NPR that the host country considers athletes representing the country to be government officials.

“This means that they must respect the principles of secularism and neutrality, which according to French law means that it is forbidden to wear external religious symbols, including the hijab, veil and headscarf, when acting in their official capacity and on official occasions as a member of the French national team,” the statement said. “The same secular approach also applies, for example, to civil servants and teachers.”

French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra stresses that the country’s national team is part of the civil service. It is therefore subject to the same restrictions that apply to all those who work in the public service in France.

According to Błuś, these secular measures are being unfairly applied to French athletes.

“We do not agree that athletes in the French national team should be seen as public servants,” she said. Morning edition“They should not be expected to play a role beyond what they are supposed to do, which is to participate in sports, to fight for their country. And they should not be expected to follow the political choices or policies of their government that actually discriminate and violate human rights.”

Basketball player Hélène Bâ is one of the French athletes banned from professional sports competitions since October 2023.

She is one of the founders of the collective Baskets Pour Toutes (Basketball for All) in France. Her story was captured in the Amnesty International report, where she said that “everyone sees you go from the bench to the ladders and for them it’s just ‘You Cannot Play’, but for you it’s a walk of shame.”

This digital story was edited by Obed Manuel.