Vienna: Austria’s ban on headscarves for girls under the age of 14 is facing its first major test as schools reopen in Vienna and several other states, with Muslim groups denouncing the measure as discriminatory and legal challenges expected.
The ban was proposed by Austria’s ruling coalition of three centrist parties, which said the measure was intended to protect girls’ freedom and prevent pressure on young students to wear headscarves. Parliament approved the legislation in December with support from the far-right Freedom Party. The left-wing Greens were the only parliamentary party to oppose the measure.
The Islamic Religious Community in Austria, the country’s main organisation representing Muslims, has described the legislation as an infringement of fundamental rights. The organisation has pledged to challenge the ban before Austria’s Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court rejected earlier challenges in July because the legislation had not yet entered into force. The court had previously struck down a separate headscarf ban in 2020 that applied to children under 10, ruling that the measure discriminated against Muslims and conflicted with the state’s obligation to remain religiously neutral.
That earlier ruling could become significant in the latest legal challenge. The court said restrictions on religious practices could be justified only under specific circumstances, placing the new legislation under close constitutional scrutiny.
Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr said that the government could not be certain how the Constitutional Court would rule on the new measure. Wiederkehr said that the government and Education Ministry had conducted extensive consultations while drafting the legislation.
The new school year began on Monday in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland, while schools in Austria’s other states are scheduled to reopen next week. The start of the academic year is expected to provide the first practical test of how schools will enforce the new restrictions.
The measure has also prompted opposition from left-wing pupil organisations, which have called for protests against the ban. Critics argue that restricting headscarves amounts to discrimination against Muslim students and interferes with freedom of religion.
Supporters of the legislation argue that children should be protected from social or family pressure and allowed to make independent choices about religious practices as they grow older.
The dispute is likely to continue beyond the reopening of schools, with the Constitutional Court expected to face a fresh challenge over whether the under-14 headscarf ban is compatible with Austria’s constitutional protections and principle of religious neutrality.
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