France has long defended laïcité, or state secularism, as a principle intended to protect both the neutrality of public institutions and the freedom of individual conscience. But the National Rally’s (RN) renewed proposal to ban the hijab in public spaces risks turning that principle on its head. Rather than keeping the state out of religion, it would give the state greater power to decide how Muslim women are permitted to dress.
The proposal resurfaced ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with senior RN figures discussing prohibiting Islamic headscarves in public spaces and imposing fines on women who violate the ban. Marine Le Pen has supported extending restrictions to places including the street, although the party has shown internal disagreement over exactly how the policy would work. Jordan Bardella has taken a more cautious position, suggesting that the issue should be decided through a referendum and initially focusing restrictions on obvious religious symbols in public-sector buildings.
France already places significant restrictions on religious dress in certain settings. Since 2004, students in public primary and secondary schools have been prohibited from wearing conspicuous religious symbols, a rule that applies not only to Muslim headscarves but also to obvious symbols associated with other religions. Public servants must similarly maintain religious neutrality while carrying out their duties. But extending these restrictions to ordinary public spaces would cross a fundamentally different line.
A woman walking down a street is not representing the French state. She is an individual citizen. If she chooses to cover her hair because of her faith, culture, or personal convictions, the government should not get involved.
There is an obvious contradiction in claiming to defend women’s freedom while threatening to fine them because of their clothing. Telling a woman that she must cover her hair and telling her that she must uncover it are the same form of coercion and both deny her the freedom to choose. Women’s liberation cannot reasonably mean replacing religious or familial pressure with instructions from the state.
The political context makes the proposal even more concerning. France is already experiencing a documented rise in anti-Muslim incidents. The National Consultative Commission on Human Rights reported that authorities recorded 326 anti-Muslim acts in 2025, an increase of 88 per cent compared with the previous year. The commission has also warned that official statistics substantially underestimate racist incidents because many victims never report them. Against that backdrop, a law singling out an item of clothing overwhelmingly associated with Muslim women risks reinforcing the message that visible expressions of Islam are somehow incompatible with being fully French.
The RN argues that it is targeting what it calls the “Islamist veil”, yet even within the party there is uncertainty about what precisely that term means. Le Monde reported that RN figures have struggled to define which garments would be prohibited, while the party remains divided over the scope and implementation of the measure. That ambiguity should itself be alarming. Laws restricting fundamental freedoms require precision, not political slogans.
France’s secular tradition is strongest when it guarantees citizens the freedom to believe. If the RN eventually comes to power, the treatment of Muslim citizens will therefore be an important test of what laïcité has become. There are Muslim women who are pressured to wear the hijab, women who freely choose it and women who strongly reject it. A democratic state should protect all three.
The principle should be straightforward: women should be able to decide what they wear. France cannot credibly defend women against religious control by imposing another form of control in its place. If freedom, equality and laïcité are to mean anything, they must protect the choices of people whose beliefs and clothing the majority may not share. A free society does not demonstrate its confidence by forcing women to remove their clothes. It demonstrates it by allowing them to choose for themselves.
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