Austria’s headscarf ban puts school rules and personal choice on a collision course

Austria’s ban on headscarves for girls under 14 has triggered protests and resistance in schools, with some pupils refusing to comply and families reporting difficulties as the government defends the law as a measure to promote gender equality and protect children from oppression.

Since the ban took effect on September 1, education authorities have held 127 meetings with parents and filed 52 reports over alleged violations, according to the education ministry. The Islamic Religious Community in Austria, which is backing legal action against the law, said it had received around 70 complaints from families about its implementation.

The law has drawn criticism from opponents who say it disproportionately targets Muslims, infringes on religious freedom and leaves girls uncomfortable about how they are expected to dress. Several hundred people have gathered at protests across Austria, while the country’s constitutional court is expected to rule on a legal challenge in the first half of 2027.

‘It felt like a part of me’

For some schoolgirls, the ban has meant negotiating between school rules and their religious identity.

Seham, 12, told AFP she felt “afraid” to remove her headscarf at school because she had worn it for two years and it felt like “a part of me”. After discussions with school leaders, she was allowed to cover her hair with an alternative, non-traditional head covering, but said she would still prefer to wear a full headscarf.

Sandy, also 12, said she began wearing a headscarf about a year ago because she placed great importance on her religion and wanted to practise it.

At a protest in Vienna, Zehra, 37, who declined to give her surname, said her daughters, aged nine and 13, were “sad and angry” about the ban.

“We raise our children by telling them, you can decide who you want to be — and this law is the exact opposite,” she said.

A teacher in the Austrian capital who has worked with two girls affected by the restrictions told AFP there was no indication they had been forced to wear headscarves. The girls had spent weeks trying to adapt to the rules and find acceptable alternatives, the teacher said, describing the experience as “very uncomfortable”.

Vienna’s education authorities said discussions held so far had given them the impression that the girls wanted to wear their headscarves of their own accord.

Austria’s second attempt to restrict headscarves

The conservative-led government has defended the ban as a way to promote gender equality and shield Muslim girls from what it calls “segregation and oppression”.

Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr told AFP that the relatively limited number of meetings so far showed “that the vast majority of pupils and parents are cooperative”. He added that discussions with families over alleged violations had largely been successful.

Under the law, schools must hold a series of discussions with pupils and their parents when a girl refuses to comply. Cases can then be referred to education authorities, and parents who continue to disregard the ban can ultimately face fines.

The Islamic Religious Community in Austria has challenged the government’s justification, saying a measure presented as protecting children’s welfare is instead putting them under pressure at school.

“A law that was justified as protecting children’s welfare is putting precisely those children under pressure at school,” the organisation said.

The constitutional court has confirmed to AFP that it has received a complaint against the law, with a decision expected in the first half of 2027.

The current restrictions are Austria’s second attempt to ban headscarves in schools. In 2019, a coalition between the conservatives and the far-right Freedom Party introduced a similar prohibition for primary school pupils. The constitutional court subsequently overturned it, ruling that a regulation targeting only Muslims was incompatible with religious neutrality.

Around 8% of Austria’s population of nine million is Muslim, according to government statistics from 2021. A 2024 report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that Muslims in Austria faced the highest rates of racism and discrimination among the countries covered by its survey.

The dispute is unfolding against a backdrop of growing support for the anti-immigration Freedom Party, which won the most votes in Austria’s 2024 election but failed to form a government. The party continues to lead voter opinion polls.

(With inputs from AFP)