It is occasionally argued that the practice of veiling interferes with the rights of other people in society – and on a number of occasions, the European Court of Human Rights has deemed anti-veiling laws to be justified, in part, by reference to the ‘rights of others’ in society. These rights fall under three headings – the right not to be presented with something that generates a negative emotional reaction (typically offence or intimidation), the right not to be presented with something that might be ideologically influential or generate a pressure to conform, and the right to live with other people in an open society. In this chapter I consider these ‘rights’ and conclude that not merely do they not justify the interference with the actual rights of wearers that an anti-veiling law entails, but that, in addition, they are illusions.
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your Elgar Online account
