As the new school year gets under way in Austria, a Hijab (headscarf) ban for girls under 14 has sparked protests on the streets and in the classroom, with dozens of pupils refusing to comply, AFP news agency reported on Thursday.
Opponents of the ban have also held protests across Austria, with several hundred people gathering each time. They insist that the ban disproportionately targets Muslims, infringes upon religious freedom and is forcing young girls to dress in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable.
Since the ban took effect, education authorities across Austria have held 127 meetings with parents and filed 52 reports over breaches of the law, according to the education ministry.
But the country’s conservative-led government has insisted that the ban, introduced on September 1, “promotes gender equality and protects Muslim girls from segregation and oppression”.
Roughly eight percent of Austria’s nine million residents are Muslim, according to 2021 government statistics.
They suffer the highest rates of racism and discrimination against Muslims in the EU, according to a 2024 report by Europe’s FRA rights agency.
In the 2024 elections, the far-right Freedom Party won for the first time even though it failed to form a government. The anti-immigration party continues to top voter opinion polls.
The new law is Austria’s second attempt to restrict Hijab in schools after a coalition between the conservatives and the Freedom Party introduced a ban for primary school pupils in 2019.
That law was overturned by the constitutional court on the grounds that a regulation targeting only Muslims was incompatible with religious neutrality.
Austrian students skip school to protest hijab ban @ReinischDieter reports from Vienna. Follow: https://t.co/GHI09iA8ru https://t.co/xH6SB0iUev
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) October 10, 2026
Legal Action against Hijab Ban
The Islamic Religious Community in Austria, which is supporting legal action against the new Hijab ban, said it had received around 70 reports from families about difficulties during its implementation.
“A law that was justified as protecting children’s welfare is putting precisely those children under pressure at school,” the group said in a statement.
The constitutional court confirmed to AFP that it had received a legal complaint about the law and a decision is expected in the first half of 2027.
Source: AFP (edited by Al-Manar)