Attacks on Muslim women rise in France

Attacks targeting Muslim women in France are on the rise, as French media choose to ignore the issue. Four women have recently been physically attacked in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil. One of the Muslim women suffered miscarriage from the incident, press tv reported. The four-month pregnant woman was attacked by two men on June 13. She was severely beaten. The assailants tried to pull off her commonplace head covering, which was not the banned burqa or niqab. The attack followed another incident in the same suburb where French police used tear gas against a group of sympathizers who were trying to stop a burqa-wearing woman from being arrested. French Muslims have criticized the media in France over the issue of the pregnant woman for using unconfirmed anonymous sources that cast doubt on the victim’s story. They also wonder why the coverage in France focused on the sensation of the crime instead of discussing the repeated and continued attacks on Muslim women. "The government has some complicity in the fact that French society still confuses the burqa with the simple hijab like mine, many Muslims wonder if the government wants this confusion to continue," said Muslim activist Sumeja Rahmani. Meanwhile, many who are against the attacks on Muslims say that it is difficult to imagine that French politicians could not have predicted that the imposed anti-burqa law in 2011 would sanction some right-wingers to become violent vigilantes. "The )French( interior ministry must protect everyone from insecurity regardless of any distinctions such as gender, color or religion," Rahmani added. In order to stop the escalating violence against veiled women, several French Muslims are urging the government to repeal the anti-burqa law.