Austrian lawmakers pass headscarf ban for under-14s in schools

Rights group Amnesty says ban, which will affect around 12,000 girls, will ‘add to racist climate towards Muslims’.Published On 11 Dec 2025Austria’s lower house of parliament has passed a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools after a previous ban was overturned on the grounds that it was discriminatory.Lawmakers passed the new legislation on Thursday by a large majority, meaning that girls younger than 14 will not be permitted to wear headscarves that “cover the head in accordance with Islamic traditions” in all schools, with non-compliance fines ranging from 150 to 800 euros ($175-930).Recommended Stories list of 2 itemslist 1 of 2UK Muslims report vandalism, attacks amid controversial flag campaignlist 2 of 2My Hijab, My Choiceend of listIn 2019, the country introduced a ban on headscarves for under-10s in primary schools, but the Constitutional Court struck it down the following year, ruling that it was illegal because it discriminated against Muslims, going against the state’s duty to be religiously neutral.The Austrian government says it has “done [its] best” to see that this law will hold up in the courts.The new law, which was proposed by the governing coalition of three centrist parties at a time of rising anti-immigration and Islamophobic sentiment, was also backed by the far-right Freedom Party, which wanted it to go even further so it would apply to all students and staff. The Greens were the only party to oppose it.Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm, of the conservative People’s Party, which leads the governing coalition, called headscarves for minors “a symbol of oppression”.Yannick Shetty, the parliamentary leader of the liberal Neos, the most junior party in the governing coalition, told the lower house that the headscarf “sexualises” girls, saying it served “to shield girls from the male gaze”.