Sweden’s Gender Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg believes that dressing young children in veils and other religious garments is completely unacceptable – and that it is something that should be reported to social services.
In an interview with the tax-funded SR Ekot on Saturday, Brandberg, who is also deputy minister of labor, reiterated her earlier message that the fight against so-called religious oppression is something she prioritizes, and that she also wants to make it illegal to force children to wear religious clothing – such as veils.
She emphasizes that the current legislation needs to be carefully examined and that religious coercion is not always completely obvious and clear, but can take more subtle forms – and that it can also be very difficult to prove in court that a parent has forced religious clothing on their children.
– My personal view is that every time a young child wears a veil, especially if it’s a very young child and especially if it’s the parents who are combining it with putting pressure on the staff not to let the child play with the boys at recess, every time that happens I think it should be grounds for a report of concern to social services so that social services can really intervene, she explains.
– Even with the current legislation, I wish we had intervened more, the minister continues.
The Liberals are divided on the issue, with parts of the party wanting to introduce a ban on veils in preschools and schools – while others oppose such a ban.
The “veil ban” proposal has also been criticized because the crimes of unlawful coercion and coercion by reputation already exist in Swedish law – laws that critics say are toothless and inadequate.
