Danes march vs ban on face veils in public
COPENHAGEN — Around 1,300 Danes marched through Copenhagen on Wednesday in protest at a new ban on the wearing of face veils in public, accusing the government of infringing on women’s right to dress as they choose.
Denmark’s parliament enacted the ban in May, joining France and some other European Union countries to uphold what some politicians say are secular and democratic values.
The protesters, many wearing the niqab veil or the all-enveloping, bodylength burqa, marched from the central, left-wing district of Norrebro to Bellahoj police station on the outskirts of the capital. They formed a human chain around the station and then marched back to Norrebro before dispersing.
Demonstrators, often with children in tow, chanted “no racists in our streets” and “my life, my choice” during the three-hour rally. The marchers included non-niqab-wearing Muslim women and non-Muslim Danes with faces covered.
“We need to send a signal to the government that we will not bow to discrimination and a law that specifically targets a religious minority,” Sabina, 21, a niqab-garbed student, told Reuters.
She is one of about 150-200 Muslim women — 0.1% of those in the country — who daily wear either the niqab or burqa covering the face or the entire body. Muslims account for around 5% of Denmark’s 5.7 million population.
Under the law, police will be able to instruct women to remove their veils or fine them and tell them to leave public areas. Fines will range from 1,000 Danish crowns ($160) for a first offence to 10,000 crowns for a fourth. —