Amsterdam Confessions of a Shallow Man Life in the Netherlands through the eyes of a sarcastic expat
The Dutch Burka ban
The Dutch Burka ban law makes wearing face-covering clothing in the Netherlands illegal. It went into effect on August 1st 2019. How are you all feeling? Much safer I hope. After all, between 150 to 400 women in a country of 17 million people are believed to wear Burkas. Terrifying! Many a time I’ve laid awake at night shivering after encountering two women wearing burkas in 15 years of living in the Netherlands. Obviously, they’re out to change Dutch culture by wearing face-covering clothing. We know how much Dutch women like to dress alike. What if they’re told that Niqabs are fashionable? They’ll all be wearing them.
The Justifications used for the Burka ban
Firstly, just so we’re clear, here’s a helpful graphic that shows the different types of traditional Muslim clothing. Below are some of the excuses justifications for the new law.
1. It’s to help improve the rights of Muslim women
Apparently the best way to improve women’s rights is to make laws telling them what they’re allowed to wear. That makes perfect sense!
It appears that a lot of people believe that all 150 plus women wearing burkas or niqabs in the Netherlands do so because they’re forced to. No actual research has been carried out that proves this but you know, I read something on Facebook about it so it must be true.
2. It’s about security
You can’t have people hiding their identities. That’s just not how we in the western world do things. It’s incredibly dangerous having people running around hiding their faces. It makes people insecure. In the Netherlands, this kind of thing is not allowed.
3. It’s got nothing to do with religion!
Even though the Dutch media and politicians have discussed this as being a burka ban, the new law has nothing to do with religion. Neeeeeeeeeee! Echt niet! If you wear a crash helmet on a bus or in a public building you can also be fined for it. You know what? I believe this, so am looking forward to seeing people dressed as traditional Zwarte Piets being fined for hiding their faces. After all, this law isn’t about religion right?
No blackface wearers were hurt (or fined) during the writing of this post.
