A ruling by France’s top court today will delight rational thinkers around the world who recognize that dictating what women can and cannot wear on a beach will not solve global terrorism anytime soon.
Alas, there will be no more ‘burkini ban’.
The French Council of State has determined that the burkini ban infringes on basic freedoms and that mayors overstepped their powers by telling women what to wear on beaches.
Over the past few weeks, around 30 municipalities across France have banned burkinis (burka+bikini) citing some bullsh*t about public safety.
The issue made headlines around the world when photos surfaced of three armed officers forcing a woman in Nice to take off her burkini at the beach. They issued her a ticket because was not “wearing an outfit respecting good morals and secularism,” an offence that, as it turns out, holds no legal weight.
Height of absurdity: Nice police seem to force burkini-clad woman to remove it and fine her. https://t.co/rhHfOEQ5Dz pic.twitter.com/yQ4egCwjrq
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) August 24, 2016
“French authorities must now drop the pretence that these measures do anything to protect the rights of women,” said Amnesty International Europe director John Dalhuisen. “These bans do nothing to increase public safety but do a lot to promote public humiliation.”
The final humiliation, of course, falls on anyone who thought this was a decent idea.
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