It Happened: Armed Authorities Forced a Woman to Remove Her Burkini on a French Beach
A few days ago, the inhabitants of the Internet were battling over whether a French ban on burkinis, the full-length swimwear worn by Muslim women, is a good or bad idea. Today, the conversation has shifted from the abstract discussion of the ban in theory to focus on an incident that took place in reality. A woman in Nice, France, was approached by police as she laid on the beach. The armed police forced her to remove parts of her covering as they stood and watched and fellow beachgoers stared.
She was hanging out on the shore at the town’s Promenade des Anglais, which is where last month’s Bastille Day attack took place, so surely tensions in the area are heightened. Still, from the first photo, she appeared to not even be speaking to anyone. In fact, she looked like she might have been sleeping.
Just let this sink in. Men with guns forcing a women to undress, with the weight of the law behind them. pic.twitter.com/4BI16Bbss9
— Abdul-Azim আজিম (@AbdulAzim) August 23, 2016
According to the Guardian, France’s high court will be taking up the issue of the burkini bans tomorrow following an appeal from a non-profit called the Human Rights League.
The woman in the photos isn’t the only one to be targeted by police enforcing the new bans. Another in Cannes was fined for wearing leggings and a “classic head scarf.” The ticket she was written declared she was being fined for not wearing “an outfit respecting good morals and secularism.”
The woman in Nice has not been identified. Photos show that she may have also been written a ticket.
[image via Twitter]
