Banning Hijab in States Schools is Violating Human Rights - 825 Words

Banning Hijab in States Schools is Violating Human Rights (Essay Sample) Content: NameProfessorCourseDateBanning Hijab in States Schools is Violating Human Rights Islam is the 2nd largest religion after Christianity. The religion is growing day by day all over the world. In Columbia, the number of Muslim immigrants has increased over the years. In most cases, the rights of the Muslims have always contradicted to the international laws on human rights. The international laws are mostly silent when an issue involving the Islam religion rises. This paper will discuss how the banning of religious symbols in schools in Columbia will violate the human rights and international treaties that agree with the freedom of religion and private life. The paper will show how Columbia will violate the agreements if it bans the wearing of scarves by teachers and girls in schools. The issue of banning headscarves in most of the European states has been debatable for some years. To some citizens, they consider the ban as a symbol of oppression to the Islamic women in Europe. Others view the prohibition as a tool to give women equal rates, based on the democratic principle of equality and liberty. To the radical Muslims, the step is a way of stigmatizing the Muslims thus attacking their religion. Most of the European citizens view the headscarf as merely a religious dress code. Some sees the ban as a chance given to the feminist to sell their ideas on whether to wear the scarf or not. Some feminists have been fighting to be given the right to wear the scarf (Westerfield 638). The position of women in Islamic religion has been on the receiving end of every wrong and unfair move. The women in the Islamic faith face many challenges in their life such as being denied leadership positions. The banning of headscarves can be an advantage to them since it hides their identity. However, their faith does not allow them to be bare head; hence the ban on headscarves in schools interrupts their freedom of belief. The women should be protected from racial an d gender discrimination in Columbia not by banning the use of head scarves in schools but by establishing policies that aim at their protection. Columbia has a higher number of Christians than the Muslims. The wearing of headscarves enables the teachers to identify them. The law indicates that the wearing of religious symbols in a school does not mean that the students will be taught the specific religion by force; the law provides that the learners should study their religious studies of choice. Therefore, banning the headscarves should be a non-issue. The feminists state that the banning of the headscarves in schools violates the rights of women according to the Sharia law, which guides Muslims lives. The ban also violates the provision that every person has the freedom of privacy. Islamic fundamentalists are against the banning of headscarves since they consider it a failed way of fighting the war on terror. The wearing of headscarves by teachers and girls in schools is a manife station of their religious beliefs which they have a right to. However, the low number of girls in states schools in Columbia leads to the discrimination of the Muslim girls. The banning of the headscarves would make it impossible to detect the Muslims from non-Muslims resulting in fair treatment to all. The prohibition of the religious symbols can help balance the status of all the girls in the schools. The United Nations convention and declaration guarantees rights and freedoms to practice their faith. The first right is the freedom of thought and conscience. No government or law can choose what its citizens will think. You cannot limit what people think or want to believe in. The religious leaders are beaten and tortured but still maintain their beliefs. Thus the teachers and girls should have their right to think if the headscarves affect them in any way. The United Nations Convention also gives the freedom to manifest belief in religion. However, this provision has its limits as prescribed in Article 9 ECHR (European Court of Human Rights). As believers manifest their religious belief in public, the public safety should be a priority. One should make sure that they protect the public order, health, an...