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Marta Hurtado, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has slammed France for its recent ban on athletes wearing headscarves during the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“In General, the Human Rights Office says that no one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear or not wear,” Hurtado said on Tuesday during a UN press briefing in Geneva.
The UN official stressed that France has an obligation to put in place all appropriate measures to “modify any social or cultural patterns which are based on the idea of inferiority or superiority or if either is sexist.”
Hurtado also warned that a discriminatory decision like the headscarf ban can have “harmful consequences.”
Last week, France announced that French athletes will not be allowed to wear the hijab during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Amelie Oueda-Castera, France’s sports minister, claimed that the decision aimed to ensure “strict secularism.”
The decision came amid frustration and concern following France’s controversial decision to maintain restrictions against wearing abayas in schools.
Despite appeals and campaigns against the abaya ban, France justified its decision by stressing that the ban on Abaya was legal.
