The most comprehensive compilation of information on the status of
women in the world.

Latest items for RCDW-LAW-2

Feb. 11, 2024, 3:18 p.m.
Countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

"Full face veils were banned from being worn in public in 2011. Elsewhere, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Bulgaria have full or partial bans on wearing face coverings in public" (para 14).
Feb. 11, 2024, 3:17 p.m.
Countries: Switzerland
Variables: RCDW-PRACTICE-2, RCDW-LAW-1, RCDW-LAW-2

"Switzerland has proposed a £900 fine for anyone covering their face under a 'burqa ban' law. The draft law was today sent to parliament by the Swiss government and includes several exemptions, including suggesting waiving the ban on aircraft, in diplomatic premises and places of worship" (para 1-2). "Also, under the draft law, masks deemed necessary to protect oneself while exercising fundamental rights to expression and assembly would be allowed as long as authorities approved and public order was assured" (para 5). "Following consultations, the cabinet watered down calls to anchor it in the criminal code and fine offenders up to 10,000 francs" (para 9). "Full face veils were banned...more
Jan. 22, 2024, 6:37 p.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1, RCDW-LAW-2

"Women have stopped being issued driver's licenses and are ordered to cover their whole bodies in western city Herat, Afghanistan's third largest" (para 2). "Last week the authorities ordered them to cover fully in public, preferably with a burqa" (para 24).
Nov. 22, 2023, 5:13 p.m.
Countries: Indonesia
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

"In 2014, the Indonesian government issued a national regulation on school dress that has been widely interpreted to require female Muslim students to wear a jilbab as part of their school uniform… In Indonesia, the term 'jilbab,' which literally means 'partition' in Arabic, is widely used to refer to a cloth that covers a woman’s head, neck, and chest" (1).
Oct. 10, 2023, 2:40 p.m.
Countries: Iran
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2, DTCP-LAW-1

"Under Islamic law in force in Iran since its 1979 revolution, women must wear a hijab that covers the head and neck while concealing the hair"(para 13).
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:35 p.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

"Shocking footage shows female Afghan students being whipped by a Taliban official after they were barred from entering their university campus because they were not wearing burkas...It comes nearly three months after the Taliban's religious police introduced stricter measures on how women dress in Badakhshan, particularly in the capital Faizabad which is where the university is located. According to the Directorate of Vice and Virtue, proper attire for women in public is either a niqab - a veil covering the head and face but not the eyes - or a burka - a veil that covers the entire body and face, with a mesh window across the eyes" (para 1,...more
Feb. 18, 2023, 9:46 a.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

"Many women in the Afghan capital are delaying a return to fully covering their faces in public in defiance of orders from Islamist Taliban rulers, others are staying at home and some have been wearing COVID-19 face masks anyway" (Para.1). "The Taliban, who swept back to power as the government collapsed, on Saturday ordered women to cover their faces in public, a return to their past hardline rule and an escalation of restrictions on girls and women that are causing anger at home and abroad." (Para.2).
Feb. 13, 2023, 11:08 a.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1, RCDW-LAW-2

"After initially adopting a more flexible attitude when taking power last August, the Taliban have recently been issuing more and more hardline edicts, including making the face veil compulsory for women and encouraging them to stay at home" (Para.24).
Feb. 13, 2023, 11:07 a.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1, RCDW-LAW-2

"After initially adopting a more flexible attitude when taking power last August, the Taliban have recently been issuing more and more hardline edicts, including making the face veil compulsory for women and encouraging them to stay at home" (Para.24).
Feb. 13, 2023, 10:57 a.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

" And if the Taliban do ultimately allow girls to attend secondary school girls, they are likely to forced to don a face veil and will be carefully watched by teachers appointed by local Taliban officials to ensure they strictly adhere to their restrictive uniforms" (Para.5).
Jan. 18, 2023, 11:12 p.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-PRACTICE-2, RCDW-LAW-2

"[W]omen are required to cover themselves from head to toe in public, with only their eyes showing" (para 8).
Jan. 2, 2023, 2:15 a.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2, WAM-LAW-1

"[T]he Taliban ordered women to cover their faces in public, followed by a separate decree requiring women broadcast journalists to cover their faces when on the air" (para 2).
Dec. 29, 2022, 11:45 a.m.
Countries: France
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

"France, which has the largest Muslim minority in Europe, estimated at 5 million, in 2010 introduced a ban on full-face niqab and burqa veils in public" (para 8).
Dec. 8, 2022, 3:20 p.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1, RCDW-LAW-2

"Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have ordered television broadcasters to ensure that female presenters on local stations cover their faces when on air in the latest crackdown on women's rights. The move comes days after authorities ordered women to cover their faces in public" (para 1, 2). "[Akif] Mahajar [spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Vice and Virtue] said female presenters could wear a medical face mask, as has been widely used during the Covid pandemic" (para 12).
Aug. 18, 2022, 10:34 p.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

"The Taliban has ordered all Afghan women to wear the head-to-toe burka in public. The move evokes similar restrictions imposed during the religious group’s previous hardline rule between 1996 and 2001. The decree states that if a woman does not cover her face, her father or closest male relative could be visited by officials, imprisoned or even fired from government jobs. It says that the ideal face covering is the blue burka, which shows only the eyes through a mesh." (19-22) "The ministry’s Shir Mohammad added: ‘For all dignified Afghan women, wearing hajib is necessary and the best hajib is chadori [the head-to-toe burka] which is part of our tradition...more
Feb. 28, 2022, 1:04 a.m.
Countries: Sri Lanka
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

"Sri Lanka's Cabinet today approved a proposed ban on wearing the burqa in public two years after ISIS terrorists killed 260 people in bombings of churches and hotels. The Cabinet approved the proposal by Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekera, who has said the full-face veils worn by Muslim women are a national security risk. The proposal will now be sent to the Attorney General's Department and must be approved by Parliament to become law. The government holds a majority in Parliament and the proposal could easily be passed" (para 1,2,3). "The burqa was temporarily outlawed in the days after the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings of three churches and three luxury...more
Jan. 6, 2022, 12:09 p.m.
Countries: Somalia
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

"Women are NOT legally required to cover their faces" (1).
Dec. 20, 2021, 11:19 a.m.
Countries: Belgium
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1, RCDW-LAW-2

"Discrimination against women who wear a headscarf was common in the labor market. The law also prohibits the wearing of a full-face veil (niqab) in public places. Authorities may punish persons who discriminate on the basis of ethnic origin with a fine of up to 137.50 euros ($150) and a jail sentence of up to seven days..." (12).
Aug. 3, 2021, 1:12 p.m.
Countries: Indonesia
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

"Concern that the niqab is associated with terrorism prompted Indonesia’s religious affairs minister, Fachrul Razi, a former army general, to call for a ban on employees’ and visitors’ wearing niqabs in government buildings. He fears that some government workers are being attracted to extremist thought and sees the niqab as a sign of radicalization. His regulation has yet to be adopted. A 2018 ban on niqabs at a university in Central Java lasted only a week before opposition compelled the university to rescind it" (para 10-11).
June 30, 2021, 3:57 p.m.
Countries: Syria
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1, RCDW-LAW-2

"Syrians have been pictured celebrating after they were liberated from ISIS rule in a northern stronghold in the country. A woman was seen smiling in Manbij as she burned a niqab she was forced to wear by the Islamic State regime while another man could not stop beaming as he had his beard cut" (para 1-2). "[T]he SDF released a video today where soldiers toured an ISIS 'religious police' headquarters where women were tortured with poles and chains if they were spotted without their faces covered" (para 15).
June 25, 2021, 2:16 p.m.
Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-PRACTICE-1, RCDW-PRACTICE-2, RCDW-LAW-1, RCDW-LAW-2, IIP-LAW-1

"Under the hardline group’s [Taliban] interpretation of Islam, women and girls were banned from public life, including going to school and working, and had to wear a full-body burqa when venturing outside" (para 6).
Feb. 6, 2021, 12:53 p.m.
Countries: Germany
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

“A German state has banned the use of burqas in school, saying that the full-face Islamic covering does not belong in a free society. Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany announced the ban on Tuesday. The state has already banned the use of such coverings for teachers. State Premier Winfried Kretschmann said that it was rare for school girls to wear burqas but that a ban was required for the exceptional cases. The new rule will apply to girls attending primary and secondary schools in the state” (para. 1-4). “In 2015, Germany's Constitutional Court overturned a blanket ban on teachers wearing them, ruling that it was against religious freedom. However, eight of...more
Jan. 7, 2021, 6:05 p.m.
Countries: Turkey
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

“But as Mr. Erdogan has expanded his power, removing the military from politics and this year winning election as president, he has moved in a different direction, critics say, cracking down on dissent, intimidating the news media and establishing more control over the judiciary. Along the way, he led moves to restrict alcohol sales and rescind a longstanding ban on head scarves in public institutions” (para. 6). “Islamists are making inroads in secular schools as well. In September, the government began allowing girls as young as 10 to wear head scarves in classes. Recently, Mr. Erdogan endorsed a call by the government-aligned National Education Council for mandatory Turkish Ottoman language...more
Jan. 7, 2021, 5:47 p.m.
Countries: Afghanistan, Israel
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

“A burqa is a full body veil, which leaves open only a tiny slash for its female wearer’s eyes. It is most common in Muslim countries like Afghanistan and goes back to a strict interpretation of the Koran. But burqas aren't solely Islamic. Some years ago, a fringe group of ultra-Orthodox Jewish women near Jerusalem began wearing similar full-body-veils as a symbol of piety” (para. 5).
Jan. 7, 2021, 5:47 p.m.
Countries: France
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

“German politicians have repeatedly called for a ban on the burqa in the past months, following a ruling by the European Court of Justice which held up the ban instituted in France. This is no surprise given that Germany has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France” (para. 2). “In France, where Muslims make up about eight percent of the population, many of them being first- and second-generation immigrants from France's former colonies, the ban [on face coverings] became state law in 2010. Belgium and parts of Switzerland followed the French model. Earlier this year, the European Council for Human Rights (ECHR) affirmed the decision. "The question of...more
Jan. 7, 2021, 5:47 p.m.
Countries: Belgium, Switzerland
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

“In France, where Muslims make up about eight percent of the population, many of them being first- and second-generation immigrants from France's former colonies, the ban [on face coverings] became state law in 2010. Belgium and parts of Switzerland followed the French model. Earlier this year, the European Council for Human Rights (ECHR) affirmed the decision. "The question of accepting or not that the full veil can be worn in public is a society's choice," it ruled, explicitly declaring the French ban to be legally justified” (para. 6).
Jan. 7, 2021, 5:47 p.m.
Countries: Germany
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

“Julia Klöckner, vice-chairman of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU), stirred a public storm in Germany this week when she called for a ban of the full body Muslim veil in public spaces. "Burqas don’t stand for religious diversity," she told German media, "but for a degrading image of women." The politician referred to the German constitution, emphasizing that women and men are equal, and described the act of looking at other people’s faces as a key feature of an open society” (para. 1). “German politicians have repeatedly called for a ban on the burqa in the past months, following a ruling by the European Court of Justice which held...more
Jan. 2, 2021, 7:08 p.m.
Countries: France
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

“There, in the name of secularism and public order, and with bipartisan political support, full facial veils were banned in public places two years ago. France also bans the wearing of any religious symbols in state schools” (para. 5).
Jan. 2, 2021, 7:07 p.m.
Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

“A judge in London decided Monday that a Muslim woman standing trial on charges of intimidating a witness can attend court wearing her facial veil, which covers everything but the eyes, but must remove it to give evidence so the jury can better evaluate her claims. That ruling comes a week after Birmingham Metropolitan College withdrew a ban on face coverings after protests and accusations of discrimination” (para. 2-3). “There, in the name of secularism and public order, and with bipartisan political support, full facial veils were banned in public places two years ago. France also bans the wearing of any religious symbols in state schools” (para. 5). “There is...more
Jan. 1, 2021, 3:23 p.m.
Countries: Austria
Variables: RCDW-LAW-2

"A police officer asks a Muslim woman to unveil her face in Zell am See, Austria after an earlier ban in 2017" (para 5). "Mr Kurz’s government introduced a ban on burkas and other full-face coverings in 2017. The new ban is seen as an extension of the current restrictions. Austria's previous government prohibited full-face veils in courts, schools and other 'public places' and banned police officers, judges, magistrates and public prosecutors from wearing headscarves" (para 9-10).