Burkhas and prostitutes

Recently, France banned the burkha. Funnily enough, European countries are using the same logic about the burkha and prostitution.

In the case of the Islamic headscarf, the argument is that most women who wear one are being forced to, and therefore the burkha is an example of the subjugation of women. And besides, no woman in her right mind would want to wear one anyway. So they're banned.

In the case of prostitution, the argument is that most women who do it are being forced to, and therefore prostitution is an example of the subjugation of women. And besides, no woman in her right mind would want to do it anyway. So it's banned.

How neatly we've arrived at restricting people's freedom in the name of protecting their freedom. It's all based on a simple idea: the government knows better than individual women what they should be doing with their bodies. In this sense, the burkha ban is the exact opposite of any kind of gender equality, because it's based on the same old notion that women's bodies have to be regulated by the state. Women can't be allowed to choose what they wear or what trade they engage in, for their own good. Of course, by this logic women can be deprived of any rights.

And in both cases, the legislation diverts attention from the real problem. In the case of prostitution, it's undeniably true that there is human trafficking and forced prostitution in all European countries. Instead of tackling that problem, though, the powers that be in Europe are simply sweeping its visible manifestation off the street, and lumping in college students who perfectly willingly prostitute themselves with victims of kidnapping and slavery. The practical result is that victims of human trafficking can't seek help, because in the eyes of the law, they're criminals, not victims.

Similarly, Muslim women are being oppressed, "even" in Western liberal democracies. The "even" is in quotes because all women in Western liberal democracies are being oppressed, so it's hardly surprising that Muslims should be, too. However, the French government isn't addressing that issue at all; they're simply banning what they think is a visible manifestation of it. At the same time they're increasing the alienation of Muslims in their society by directly pitting the state against their religion, which, if anything, is going to make things worse.

I want to make one thing perfectly clear: Banning the burkha is not going to liberate a single Muslim woman anywhere. As long as nothing is done about the domestic abuse and subjugation that women in our society suffer from, passing laws on what they're allowed to wear isn't going to affect anything. With or without a burkha, a beaten and oppressed woman is still a beaten and oppressed woman.

Both of these examples simply show how disgustingly spineless our elected governments are. We consistently refuse to address real problems, but instead try to sweep them under the rug. If no-one can see a burkha in the street, we can conveniently forget that women are being abused, beaten and even murdered by their husbands and families. If no-one can see a prostitute soliciting on the street, we can forget all about the thousands of victims of human trafficking. The Finnish government is using similar logic to ban begging in the streets. Just get it out of sight.

We're not solving problems; we're just hiding them, and even worse, sacrificing individual freedom to hide them. It makes me sick that something like the burkha ban is being held up as an example of fighting for women's rights, when, if anything, it's the opposite.