Nearly half of French Muslims report being discriminated against based on their religion

Muslim women who wear the hijab reported experiencing the highest amount of discrimination.

2 min read

08 November, 2019

Last month a far-right politician told a Muslim mother to remove her hijab. [Twitter]

Almost half of Muslims in France have suffered discrimination based on their religion, according to the French Institute for Public Research (IFOP).

The polling site revealed on Friday that 43 percent of Muslims have been subjected to prejudiced treatment. More than a third of these instances were recorded in the past five years, suggesting an increase in the overall mistreatment of Muslims in France over recent years.

The study also found that discrimination was gender-based.

Read more: France's war on the hijab drives Muslim women into the shadows

Out of those to have reported bias treatment, 46 percent were female in comparison to 38 percent for male Muslims.

Muslim women said they suffered the most when encountering the police, or trying to enter a nightclub.

Veiled women reported enduring even more bigoted behaviour, with a surge in incidents almost 15 percent more than their non-veiled counterparts.

All Muslims living in France claimed that they suffered discrimination mostly from law enforcement authorities, with 24 percent experiencing discrimination whilst seeking jobs, and 22 percent when looking for accommodation.

Twitter Post

They also said spaces offering public services such as schools, hospitals, and public administration institutions exposed them to bias treatment.

Muslims suffer more than twice the amount of physical aggression than non-muslims in France.

The study highlights that there are different factors that lead to discrimination besides the practice of Islam, such as nationality, cultural origins, and skin colour.

The poll interviewed 1,007 French residents who self-identified as Muslims, and were over the age of 15.

Discrimination against Muslims in France is deep-rooted. The most recent incident occured when a member of France's right-wing populist party, National Rally, asked a Muslim woman who was accompanying her son on a school trip to remove her hijab.

The incident took place on 11 October, and caused uproar across France and internationally.

Pictures went viral of the Muslim woman's child crying as his mother was publically discriminated against by the political official.

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