A worker drives a golf cart inside the BMX freestyle competition venue ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 19, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
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When the 2024 Olympics begin this week, France will not allow its athletes to wear headscarves during the games – a move that appears to contradict the Olympic charter’s calls for respect for religion and protection of human rights.
A recent report by Amnesty International calls France’s restrictions on religious dress blatant discrimination, and a researcher with the human rights nonprofit told NPR: Morning Edition that beyond being unfair, this measure could lead to systemic problems for female athletes in France.
These bans have a broader impact on women in sport, dashing the hopes of female athletes in France, said Anna Błuś, a researcher at Amnesty International. Amateur football, basketball and volleyball leagues also do not allow women to wear the hijab during matches.
“They are constantly asked to take off their clothes, to give up a part of their identity if they want to progress,” Błuś says. “And many of the women I spoke to told me they didn’t see a future in France and were considering leaving the country and competing for other national teams.”
The technical reason behind France’s ban
The International Olympic Committee said in a statement to NPR that the host country considers athletes representing it to be public officials.
“This means that they must respect the principles of secularism and neutrality, which means, according to French law, the prohibition of wearing visible religious symbols, including the hijab, the veil and the headscarf, when acting in the exercise of their official functions and on official occasions as members of the French national team,” the statement reads. “The same secular approach also applies, for example, to civil servants and teachers.”
French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra reinforced the idea that the country’s national team is considered part of the civil service, and is therefore subject to the same restrictions that apply to anyone working in the civil service in France.
Błuś said these secular policies are being unfairly applied to French athletes.
“We do not agree that the athletes of the French national team should be considered as civil servants,” she said. Morning Edition“They should not be asked to take on a role that goes beyond what they are supposed to do, which is to participate in sports, to compete for their country. And they should not be asked to follow the political choices of their government or policies that are discriminatory 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 Baskets Pour Toutes collective in France. Her story is told in the Amnesty International report where she says: “Everyone sees you go from the bench to the ladders and for them it’s just a case of ‘You can’t play’, but for you it’s a walk of shame.”
This digital story was edited by Obed Manuel.
