It's a poorly kept secret in countries where the burqa is prevalent that hundreds of women are injured, maimed or killed every year due to the impairment of vision and impracticality of the garment. They walk into open manholes or other holes, trip over hazards, walk in front of cars and trucks, are burned when the garment catches fire, maimed when it gets caught in machinery or vehicles...

I happen to work in an environment that causes me to interact with immigrants from around the world. There is a wide variety of garments available for men and women that are extremely modest without covering the eyes. Our receptionist used to wear jilbabs and abayas with a veil similar to a nun's veil. It was fully covering and perfectly safe.

We don't need to ban the burqa because it may or may not be an expression of any given individual's oppression. As others have alluded to here, that is something we can't presume to know. (I don't know anyone whoo wears a burqa but I do know feminist muslim women who wear the hijab who would kick your ass for suggesting that it was imposed upon them and not their choice.)

We should ban it because it's a health and safety hazard.

I can see all sides ...

If you were inside a burka, you could not.

Trust me. High heels are also a safety hazard.

Anyone for banning them?

So AKA Smith, how come apologists like you never apply that principle to rank indoctrination of children by parents?

Or don't kids from 'exotic' backgrounds (which some leftist love to fetishise) deserve the same array of life-choices, ones you have undoubtedly benefited from?

I feel the same way about Christian, Jewish, Sikh and other superstitious requirements as I do about the hijab, burqa, etc. in Islam.

Some do experience the Burqa as a symbol of oppression. These women should not be forced to wear one. Some women experience the Burqa as a profound and empowering expression of their faith. These women should not be denied.

I find nothing more patronizing and paternalistic than to suggest that conservative or traditional women have simply internalized their oppression. Many of the conservative values and mores embraced by these women originally honored and elevated women's status. The problem with these structures is that they were too restrictive and denied women the opportunity to participate in the so called male sphere and what has not generally been recognized is that these same structures have prevented men from being a part of the so called women's sphere (Part of the reason die earlier, go to jail more...)

The object of a liberal society should be to increase and honor the choices of all individuals female and male liberal and conservative. All people should be free to pursue the life they find most meaningful and fulfilling.

Also, a safety hazard most likely.

Mascara? Did you watch Julia Roberts separate her mascara-ed lashes with a safety pin in that movie? Absolutely scary. But you have to separate them with something or they look too clumpy. I used to use a toothpick.

The world is fraught with personal choices that constitute a personal hazard.

Who knows what Splenda does to you long term?

Riding a bike in auto traffic?

Bearing a child?

Drinking to unconsciousness?

Voting Republican?

For God's sake, outlaw that last! It's a hazard to us all.

A ban on burqa does NOT equate an attack on women's freedom. Women are oppressed in almost ALL societies and unfortunately, some women have settled into this oppressed way of life and it's all they know - so, wearing a burqa means that they are being 'good' women, appropriate women, decent and moral women - but by who's standards? The answer is: The men who oppress them.

It's a form of Stockholm Syndrome and plenty of women in THIS country (the USA) suffer from it as well, albeit in the form of high heels, makeup and panty hose.

If the world was a place where women were truly treated as equals, then your argument would make a little more sense. But it's not - not by a long shot. And until it is, the burqa is a monument to how little women are valued and respected.

To be French is to accept French ideas of liberty.

You don't have to be French.

Face it, the Islamists in France want the perks, the system, the wealth.

To get those, one word: assimilate.

Sarkozy is absolute right. Those who tolerate misogyny in Islam under mulit-culturalism are just as bad as the misogynists who create these 7th century rules.

No woman born under Islam has a "choice" about what she wears; she was raised under theocratic brain-washing. As for those very rare women who are free but choose to wear burqa's - I'm not interested in other peoples neurotic behavior.

If you are wearing one you can't work, drive, be self-sufficient. And burqa's are to keep "men from being sexually excited" so your whole identity is based on keeping men from looking at you.

Bravo Sarkozy!

Obviously, you haven't read my archive or you would know that I believe children over the age of twelve should be allowed to skip religious services. Children over 18 should be allowed to vote Libertarian.

Well, I've got to sign-off. Wish me luck. I am driving home in a car. Dangerous!

Funny how so many progressives on this thread are willing to dismiss these traditional women as "brain washed" and "oppressed". some of my conservative peers are all too willing to dismiss progressives as "brainwashed" and "deceived". Too many people on both sides have no ability to stand in the other's shoes and see through the other's eyes.

Sad. I expected better from my progressive peers.

"What if she wears it of her own accord, though? Certainly, that's the case for some of the small minority of women in France who wear it"

Well, keep in mind that there is a consensus among the french political class: A woman cannot wear a Burqa on her own accord, period. If she does, she forced to wear it, if she claims to do it willingly, she's lying because she fears to be beaten to death when she comes back home. That is what nearly every politician in France believe and claim, and that's the reason why Sarko can easily win a few political points by following this group of legislator (led by a communist deputy: I am not making this up).

The main problem is, "can you prove it?"

I tend to agree with my country's politician: you cannot wear a burqa without being under the heavy pressure of your family and/or neighborhood, but this is nothing more than a personal conviction: I cannot prove it in front of a court.

The banning of the veil in schools worked because it targeted middle and high-school girls: kids and teenager, who were more fragile against parents and peer pressure that adults, so it was possible to say "There is no way that this 12 years old girl choosed to be veiled without being forced by someone" and be taken seriously the young age of the veiled girls was the strongest argument in favor of the law. Try to say the same thing about a 30 years old woman wearing a burqa: even if you're right, proving it will be nearly unpossible.