French Burqa Ban Has Succeeded In Making Things Worse  France
instituted a ban on wearing face coverings in public in April,
and the first fines may be handed down this week. In the past
six months, authorities have been hesitant to enforce the
measure, and many police officers are simply looking the other
way when they see a woman in a veil. While the ban was
ostensibly enacted to keep women safe, its biggest effect to
date has been to increase the street harassment of Muslim women.
When officers see a women wearing a veil they're supposed to
write her up, but they can't take off the face covering. While
some have mistakenly given women €150 fines on the spot, but
these penalties are supposed to be handed out by a judge, who
can also order violators to attend a citizenship class.
According to the Guardian, so far women in France have been
stopped for wearing a veil about 100 times, but judges haven't
punished anyone. The French justice ministry says there are
fewer than 10 cases going through the courts, bu