“Burqa Ban’ in Switzerland

Just a day before International Women’s Day, a referendum has conducted in Switzerland on full facial coverings including niqab and burqa in all public places. Swiss voters have agreed for ban of full face covering with slight majority. 

Anti-burqa vote on March 07^th came after years of debate in the country. There is an expectation that similar bans likely to be in other European countries.

The ban was support with 51.2% votes whereas 48.8% of voters opposed the ban on burqa. The referendum takes place when the masks are mandatory because of pandemic virus in the country. There is an approximate 8.6 million Muslims population living in Switzerland which comes to 5% of country population. Muslim women feel that the choice of wearing the burqa should leave to their option. But Islamic groups in Switzerland called March 07^th as “dark day” for Muslims in the country. The ban means that no one should cover their face completely in open places.

There are exceptions on ban including in places like worship and for health & safety reasons. The referendum on March 07^th has silent on Islam community directly. The supports argue that full face mask used to escape people after committing crimes. The Swiss People’s party made a campaign with slogans like stop extremism. Germany too called for prohibition of full-face veils and gave the choice to implement to state provinces. France is the first nation to impose the ban on full face veil in 2011 aiming to oppress women. Does burqa ban in Switzerland come under women empowerment?