Austria’s Integration Minister Open to Adjusting Headscarf Ban but Defends Core Principle
VIENNA — Austria’s Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm signaled openness to revising the country’s contentious headscarf ban for schoolgirls but maintained that gender equality outweighs religious considerations, according to ORF news.
“The fundamental right for girls to grow up equally comes before religious freedom,” the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) minister told public broadcaster Ö1 on Thursday. She said the government would review public feedback and refine the draft law “to make terms even clearer before it is passed.”
The ban, which would prohibit girls up to the eighth grade from wearing headscarves in school, has drawn sharp criticism from legal experts and human rights groups. More than 600 submissions during the consultation period raised concerns about discrimination and constitutional validity.
Plakolm said she was open to commissioning a study to determine how many girls would actually be affected but suggested the classroom reality already speaks for itself. She also stressed the need to support teachers in enforcing the measure and to focus penalties primarily on parents, though details remain undecided.
The minister reiterated her goal of giving the law constitutional status, a move she called “a strong signal of unity.” But both the Greens and the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), whose support would be needed, appear hesitant.
Green deputy leader Sigrid Maurer said her party opposes forcing girls to wear headscarves but would not back a law that violates the constitution. The FPÖ declined to comment.
Austria’s Constitutional Service criticized the bill’s vague wording; especially the undefined term “honor based cultural obligation” and questioned proposed fines for parents, who have no direct supervisory duty during school hours.
