‘Democracy takes precedence’: Denmark takes steps to expand the veil ban in schools, targets prayer rooms in universities

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederricasen on Thursday announced a plan to broaden the ban on Denmark’s full face Islamic veil to include schools and universities, such as to include schools and universities, democracy should come before religious expression in educational places.“You have the right to your faith and have the right to practice your religion, but democracy takes priority,” Fredericseen was quoted by the Danish news agency Ritzau. He said, “God will have to step aside.”Denmark first introduced a public ban on full-faced coverings in 2018. However, the law has not yet been implemented in educational institutions. Fredericseen said that this was a difference in the law that needed to be closed. He said, “The law has gaps that allow Muslim social control and oppression of women in educational institutions in Denmark,” they told domestic media according to Euronuse.The Prime Minister, who leads the ruling social democrats, said that his government has intended to expand the veil ban and start negotiations with universities and schools to remove prayers from the complexes. While he did not call for blankets on such rooms for legal prohibition, Fredericseen clarified his stance, “We are actively taking a position that we don’t want them because they are used as a mechanism of harassment against girls and potentially boys,” he was said by Ritzau.Fredericseen also said that while she did not know how broad the use of prayers was about her anxiety theory. “I am the Prime Minister of Denmark. I am also a woman. And I cannot tolerate the oppression of women,” she said.The announcement comes in response to the recommendations made by the Commission of Denmark for Forgotton Women Struggle, which urged to take action on being called religious social control in public institutions earlier this year. In 2022, the same body proposed to ban hijab in primary schools, but the measure was eventually dropped after backlash and protests.The new proposal has criticized human rights organizations. According to the news AFP, groups such as Amnesty International have long opposed Denmark’s public veil ban, calling it discriminatory and violation of women’s expression and freedom of religion. Amnesty International said in 2018, “All women must be free to wear clothes and to wear clothes that express their identity or belief.”Fredericseen needed new measures to preserve democratic values ​​within education. “You welcome your religion,” he said, “but when you are in school, you are in school and participate in your education,” Euronues said.