Female Subjects of International Human Rights Law : The Hijab Debate and the Exotic Other Female

In this paper, the presupposed ideas upon which the hijab is probibited in both France and Turkey – concerning the nature and purpose of veiling (these notions informed and influenced by a long history of Orientalism) – are examined and shown to provide an insufficient justification for the prohibition. Such notions serve to marginalize Muslim Women in the broader women's rights movement in international human rights law, thereby engendering and maintaining the ‘otherness’ of the Muslim woman as the ‘Exotic Female Other’. Having considered how the rhetoric surrounding Muslim women, the veil and the prohibition are easily challenged and therefore significantly undermine the ban's validity, the international law implications of the hijab ban are addressed – namely, the particular human rights that are violated are outlined in addition to a survey of the current effectiveness of international human rights discourse and institutions. Recommendations as to what should be done are also offered.

© 2007 Taylor & Francis.