This paper considers the possibility of using the prohibition of harassment under European anti-discrimination laws to fight the legality of headscarf bans. In fact, so far Muslim women have been unsuccessful in litigating such bans both before the ECtHR and CJEU. Rather than configuring these cases as violations of religious freedom or direct/indirect discrimination on...
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND THE ANTI-DISCRIMINATION PRINCIPLE
Recent years have seen a rise in the importance of religion in both the private and the public spheres, as well as an increase in demands for full equality by disempowered groups such as women and gays. The combined effect of these two phenomena has been an escalation in the conflict between claims of religious...
Distinguishing Freedom of Religion from Religious Non-Discrimination
In this paper, we argue that, while they are often conflated, the right to freedom of religion and the right against religious discrimination are in fact distinct human rights. We identify two facets of religion: religion as viewed from the committed perspective of the adherent and religious group membership as seen from the non-committal/public point...
Gender Segregation in Public Places: Religious Accommodation or Sex Discrimination?
The Ultra-orthodox (UO) Jewish community in Israel is a highly religious group that comprises 8% of the population and abides by strict modesty standards that call for the separation between men and women in many settings. In order to facilitate the integration of the community in the public sphere Israeli authorities have in the last...
Litigating Religions
Religions are a problem for human rights, and human rights are a problem for religions. And both are problems for courts. This paper, based on a recently published book, presents an interpretation of how religion and human rights interrelate in the legal context, and how this relationship might be reconceived to make this relationship somewhat...