(DPA) Austria is set to ban girls under the age of 14 from wearing a headscarf in school next year, Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm said on Thursday.
The draft law, which is set to be debated in parliament soon, is to apply from the 2026/2027 school year, the minister, who belongs to the centre-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), said.
Wearing a headscarf is not a religious ritual, but teaches girls to “develop feelings of shame” and leads to “a distorted body image” and “unstable self-esteem,” Plakolm said.
Austria’s top court struck down a previous attempt by an ÖVP-led government to ban headscarves in schools in 2019.
