An initiative to ban the wearing of the niqab.
The Swiss are called upon to vote on Sunday, March 7, on the ban on concealing the face;
a referendum carried by the far right targeting the few women who wear the full veil in the country.
The polls give a narrow majority for this initiative, which comes after years of debate.
If the yes were to win, Switzerland would join France, Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium and Denmark in banning the full veil.
While the text does not refer to the burqa - a long piece of cloth that covers women from head to toe and fitted with a mesh slit at eye level - or the niqab, which covers the entire body and face at the same time. Except for the eyes, everyone understands who is being targeted.
The slogans on the campaign posters remove all doubt: "Stop radical Islamism" or "Stop extremism", and show women in niqabs.
The posters of the opponents urge them to vote "no to an Islamophobic, absurd and unnecessary 'anti-burqa' law".
If the yes should prevail, it will then be prohibited to completely cover the face in public, but exceptions are provided for places of worship, for example.
Racism accusations
“In addition to being unnecessary, this text is racist and sexist. We believe that in 2021, as feminists, it is not acceptable that the Swiss Constitution has an article that prescribes or prohibits women from wearing any clothing. 'she is,' Ines El-Shikh, spokesperson for the group of Muslim feminists "The Purple Scarves" told AFP.
For Ines El-Shikh, the bill creates the illusion of a problem where there is none and concerns only a few dozen women.
"The target of the initiative, it is not the Muslims, we do not question their religious practices", affirms to AFP Jean-Luc Addor, the spokesman of the yes and member of the party of the populist right. UDC.
For him, it is about defending "the values of our civilization".
The yes camp remains in the lead, but its initially comfortable lead in the polls has melted since January.
The federal government and Parliament are opposed to this measure, arguing that the initiative addresses a problem that does not exist.
Their counter-proposal, which would be immediately adopted if the yes failed, would force people to show their faces as soon as the authorities demand it for identification purposes, at borders for example.
Fines of up to 10,000 Swiss francs (just over 9,000 euros) can be imposed on offenders.
The vast majority of women who wear the niqab are tourists.
It was not uncommon before the Covid-19 pandemic to see them in luxury boutiques in central Geneva shopping there.
With AFP
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