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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris

French court upholds ban on girls wearing abayas in schools

A woman wearing an abaya walks through the streets of Lille
Emmanuel Macron’s government announced in August it was banning the garment on the grounds it broke rules on secularism. Photograph: Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images

France’s top administrative court has upheld a government ban on girls in state schools wearing abayas, rejecting complaints that it was discriminatory and could incite hatred.

The government announced just before schools reopened this week that the abaya, a long, flowing dress worn by some Muslim women, would no longer be allowed because it violated the French principle of secularism, or laïcité.

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