Italy Drafts Law to Ban Burka

The Italian Parliament will vote on a law to ban face-covering veils in September after the constitutional affairs commission approved a draft of the law August 2. The bill is supported by Italy’s ruling coalition, so it will probably become law.

The law would ban anyone from wearing something in public that covers the face, such as a motorbike helmet. It would also forbid anything with “ethnic origins” from covering the face. Violators would be fined up to €300 (us$426) and given some kind of community service. Anyone who forces another to cover her face could be jailed up to 12 months and pay a fine of up to €30,000 (us$43,000).

“Five years ago no one wore the burka [in Italy]. Today there is always more. We have to help women get out of this segregation … to get out of this submission,” said the law’s sponsor, Moroccan-born Souad Sbai, a member of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom Party.

With France and Belgium already enforcing similar laws, burka banning seems set to become standard across the continent of Europe.