Geneva indirectly bans burkinis in swimming pools
Geneva is legislating to ban the wearing of the burkini in public swimming pools and baths. Adopted on Thursday by the cantonal parliament's right-wing majority, the new law does not, however, directly name the garment.
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The new law stipulates that “the only clothing permitted in swimming pools is one-piece or two-piece swimming costumes whose maximum length is above the knees and which leave the arms bare”.
This de facto excludes burkinis, which was the intention of a Swiss People’s Party bill to penalise this attire, but the absence of such a provision at federal level would have been easily overturned by the courts.
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As a result of an amendment from the Centre Party, the initial text was transformed into a new bill on public swimming pools and baths.
Carole-Anne Kast, head of the Department of Institutions and Digital Technology, had warned parliamentarians against a law that in her view violated individual freedom and communal autonomy. “The courts will decide”, she declared.
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Adapted from French by AI/ts
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