By: Dr Božo Cerar, lawyer, diplomat and publicist
A few days ago, Demokracija reported on a case at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Novo Mesto, where a Muslim female student was not allowed to participate in clinical practice due to hygiene standards because she wore a hijab (headscarf).
After the intervention of the Advocate of the Principle of Equality, the Human Rights Ombudsman, and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation, the faculty was forced to relent. It even had to change its rules regarding how students must dress to ensure proper standards during clinical practice and lab exercises.
In public discourse, besides the argument that hygiene standards cannot always be the top priority, there is also a growing sense that native residents must adapt to the demands of foreigners rather than the other way around.
Last year, in our immediate neighbourhood – Monfalcone, Italy – residents were outraged when immigrant women attempted to insist on swimming at the city beach fully covered from head to toe. The mayor subsequently banned this practice.
What will the faculty and ministry do if the student decides that lectures and exercises on Fridays are unsuitable for her because Friday is the holiest day of the week for Muslims? Will classes have to be rescheduled to another day or even the weekend?
Returning to the hijab: its wearing is currently mandated by the fundamentalist regime in Iran. The same applies to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and Hamas in Gaza. Several Iranian women who chose the freedom not to wear it paid for this decision with their lives. The hijab (along with the burqa and niqab) is often used to keep women in a subordinate, second-class position. Because of this, several countries with predominantly Muslim populations have banned the hijab, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, and Tajikistan.
Several EU member states – such as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Denmark – have also banned the hijab in educational institutions, workplaces, and public spaces. If we follow the reasoning of our institutions, these countries have supposedly failed to uphold the principles of inclusion, respect for diversity, and equal opportunities for all. However, rather than discrimination, it seems more likely that these countries simply reject the hijab’s underlying view of women and instead adhere to the provisions of UN General Assembly Resolution 40/144 from December 13th, 1985. This resolution, sponsored in part by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was adopted by acclamation. In its Article 4, the resolution states: “Foreigners shall respect the laws of the country in which they reside or are present, as well as the customs and traditions of its inhabitants.”