Europe09 September, 20262 min read
Austria’s Under-14 Headscarf Ban Faces First Test as Schools Reopen in Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland
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The ban prohibits wearing headscarves for girls under 14 in Austrian public and private schools. It took effect at the start of the school year as Vienna and states reopened.
First Classroom Test
Austria’s ban on headscarves for girls under 14 entered its first practical test as the school year began in Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland, with schools reopening on Monday in those three states. The law forbids “traditional Muslim” head coverings in public and private schools, and it requires schools to hold discussions with any pupil defying the ban before penalties can be imposed.
Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr said the government could not guarantee the law would survive judicial scrutiny, telling ORF: “You can never be completely certain.” Reuters reported that the legislation was passed in December with support from the far-right Freedom Party, while the left-wing Greens opposed it, and that the Constitutional Court had rejected earlier challenges in July because the ban had not yet gone into force.
Opposition and Court Fight
Critics say the ban is discriminatory and could be unconstitutional, and the BBC quoted Carla Amina Baghajati from the official Islamic Community in Austria (IGGÖ) saying the organization “firmly opposes the ban.” Baghajati told the BBC that “Rather than protecting children, it singles out a specific religious practice and risks excluding the very children it claims to support.”
The BBC also reported that teachers are expected to enforce the new ban by holding talks with the student and their legal guardians, and that repeated violations require child services to be notified. The BBC further said the court struck down a previous ban on headscarves in primary schools in 2020 on the basis that it contravened the principle of Austria’s religious neutrality, while the Reuters report said the Constitutional Court rejected challenges in July because the legislation had not yet gone into force.
Enforcement, Fines, and Stakes
Under the staged enforcement process described by Reuters, a school must hold discussions with a pupil defying the ban and then can impose a fine of between €150 and €800. The BBC said that if there are repeated violations, child services must be notified and as a last resort, guardians could face fines of up to €800 (£685).
SBS reported that left-wing pupils’ organisations have called for protests, and it quoted a 12-year-old student at a Vienna demonstration: “No one can force me to wear a headscarf, and no one can force me to take it off.” SBS also said the government argued the law was aimed at protecting girls from “oppression,” while the BBC reported that Integration Minister Claudia Bauer described the headscarf as “a sign of oppression and a means of controlling girls from the earliest childhood.”