One of the most remarkable aspects pertaining to the legal bans and societal debates on the face veil in Europe is that they rely on assumptions which lack any factual basis. To rectify this, Eva Brems researched the experiences of women who wear a face veil in Belgium and brought her research results together with those of colleagues who did the same in four other European countries. Their findings, which are outlined in this volume, move the current discussion on face veil bans forward by providing a much-needed insider perspective. In addition, a number of legal and social science scholars comment on the empirical findings and on the face veil issue more generally.
1. Introduction to the volume Eva Brems; Part I. Wearing the Face Veil in Europe: 2. Face veiling in The Netherlands: public debates and women's narratives Annelies Moors; 3. Niqabis in Denmark: when politicians ask for a qualitative and quantitative profiling of a very small and elusive sub-culture Kate Østergaard, Margit Warburg and Birgitte Schepelern Johansen; 4. The Belgian 'Burqa ban' confronted with insider realities Eva Brems, Yaiza Janssens, Kim Lecoyer, Saïla Ouald Chaib, Victoria Vandersteen and Jogchum Vrielink; 5. France vs England Naima Bouteldja; Part II. Debating the Face Veil: 6. Insider perspectives and the human rights debate on face veil bans Emmanuelle Bribosia and Isabelle Rorive; 7. Symptomatic symbolism: banning the face veil 'as a symbol' Jogchum Vrielink; 8. Bas les masques! Unveiling Muslim women on behalf of the protection of public order: reflections on the legal controversies around a novel definition of 'public order' used to ban full-face covering in France Rim-Sarah Alouane; 9. Islamic veil bans: the gender equality justification and empirical evidence Erica Howard; 10. Women's oppression and face veil bans: a feminist assessment Dolores Morondo Taramundi; 11. The return of a persecuting society? Criminalising facial veils in Europe Maleiha Malik; 12. Asserting state sovereignty: the face veil ban in Belgium Nadia Fadil; 13. The performativity of face veil controversies across Europe Schirin Amir-Moazami; 14. Proscribing unveiling - law a chimera and an instrument in the political agenda Susan S. M. Edwards.
