A recent survey of teachers shows exactly what critics of Islam have been warning about for years: Islamic girls are becoming younger and younger, forced by their families under the Muslim head cloth. ‘Girls dressed in Western clothes are considered ‘unclean’ or ‘haram’’. Now the alarmed educationalists are warning of ‘fatal consequences for the development of children’.
Teachers, school social workers and nursery school teachers are making frightening observations in their institutions. Presumably, these are the same educators who not so long ago were in a frenzy about Islam and were campaigning for equal treatment of the political ideology of Islam, the women’s rights organisation Terre des Femmes (TDF) reports alarmingly in its latest survey on the so-called children’s headscarf in schools.
The Muslim headscarf is mostly worn as a symbol of demarcation. Often paired with other classic Muslim garments, it says. ‘Even more radical forms such as a chador are often seen from Year 5 or 6. Western-dressed girls are often considered ‘unclean’ or ‘haram’.’ There is a great deal of social control among Muslim pupils.
As a reward, the girls forced to wear the Islamic headscarf usually receive gifts and praise from male family members: ‘You are a particularly good daughter if you wear a headscarf. You strengthen our honour. We are proud of you. We love you.’ According to Terre des Femmes, a little girl can hardly resist, especially as the pressure and fear of rejection and rejection are too great. Another educator reports on a girl aged just nine who – allegedly completely voluntarily – put on the Islamic uniform. At first, the child was proud and found it exciting: ‘But now there is no turning back and she seems much more introverted and “grown-up” than before. I don’t think she realised what she was deciding to do, and now the path seems to be set,’ says the teacher.
All in all, what critics of Islam – such as Michael Stürzenberger, who nearly had to pay with his life for his educational work – have been warning about for years is now more than just visible to everyone. The more concessions are granted to Muslims and their backward religion, the larger their share of the population becomes, the more radical the followers of this political religion become. According to teachers, 44 per cent of Muslim girls now start wearing headscarves at the age of ten or eleven. Eleven per cent were even younger. 31 per cent of those surveyed felt that the decision was not made voluntarily by the children. More than half stated that the girls did not take part in sports or swimming lessons and school trips, while 35 per cent stayed away from sex education lessons – a figure that has risen since the previous survey.
The women’s rights organisation ‘Terre des Femmes’ (TdF) has been calling for a ban on Muslim headscarves for girls under the age of 14 in state schools in Germany for years. TdF recognised the Muslim headscarf as a growing phenomenon in many schools and even kindergartens at an early stage. The Islamic veil stands for discrimination and sexualisation of minors. The organisation is therefore calling for a legal ban on the so-called ‘children’s headscarf’ in public spaces, especially in educational institutions for all underage girls. Terre des Femmes launched an online petition four years ago under the motto ‘Keep your head free’. Among the first signatories of the petition are Alice Schwarzer and Professor Dr Susanne Schröter, Director of the Frankfurt Research Centre for Global Islam, as well as the Green politician Boris Palmer, who is highly criticised in his own Green ranks, and the writer Monika Maron.
While teachers in educational institutions are sounding the alarm and warning against the misogynistic practices of Islam, CDU official Babett Schwede-Oldehus, councillor, chairwoman of the Women’s Union and chairwoman of the Social and Health Committee in Neumünster, is delighted that the first Muslim daycare centre there has been approved with her help: ‘In addition to Christian providers, there will now also be a Muslim provider of a daycare centre. I see this as a cultural enrichment.’