A ban against wearing veils that cover the face at schools and universities violates the Swedish discrimination act, the country's equality ombudsman ruled Wednesday. The decision by Katri Linna was the first concerning full-face veils in Sweden. It was sparked by a complaint made in early 2009 by a young Muslim woman who was studying to become a kindergarten teacher, who was told she could not wear the full-face niqab at her school in Stockholm. In her decision, Linna said the right to wear religious garb did not mean that safety measures should be neglected but 'schools, or employers, are obliged to seek solutions to possible obstacles.'
The plaintive finished with good results, suggesting that 'her niqab did not constitute an obstacle for her training,' Linna said. During class, the woman was seated so that her male co-students could not see her face and she did not have to wear her niqab. Linna would not seek legal action against the school since the student was allowed to complete her year-long education pending the decision by the equality ombudsman agency. Linna, who has been criticized for the slow handling of the case, said the decision did not consider if a woman wearing the niqab could work at a kindergarten. There are no statistics on how many female students in Sweden wear the full-body burqa or the niqab. Estimates suggest there are at least 100,000 practicing Muslims among Sweden's 9.4 million inhabitants - but that number is uncertain as there are no official statistics. The equality ombudsman was set up to ensure compliance with the discrimination act that bans discrimination due to gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age.
In August, Education Minister Jan Bjorklund said he wanted leaders of Swedish schools and universities to be allowed to ban students from wearing clothes that cover their faces, including the burqa, the niqab or balaclava masks.
DPA
