Austria’s ban on headscarves for girls under 14 in schools has triggered protests and classroom defiance since taking effect on Sept. 1, with dozens of pupils refusing to comply. The conservative-led government defends the measure as a step to promote gender equality and protect Muslim girls from “segregation and oppression,” according to the education ministry.
Critics argue the ban disproportionately targets Muslims, infringes on religious freedom and forces young girls to dress in ways that make them uncomfortable. Education authorities have held 127 meetings with parents and filed 52 reports over alleged breaches, the ministry said. Protests have drawn several hundred people across the country, with opponents including the Islamic Religious Community in Austria, which is supporting legal action and has received around 70 reports from families about implementation difficulties.
At a Vienna demonstration, Zehra, 37, said her two 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. Seham, 12, said she felt “afraid” to remove her headscarf at school because “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 “rather wear the full headscarf.”
The ban is Austria’s second attempt to restrict headscarves in schools after a 2019 law targeting primary school pupils was overturned by the constitutional court for violating religious neutrality. Roughly 8 percent of Austria’s nine million residents are Muslim, according to 2021 government statistics. A 2024 report by the EU’s FRA rights agency found Austrian Muslims face the highest rates of racism and discrimination in the bloc.
