Austria Tried to Ban the Hijab Once. Its Highest Court Said No. Now the Government Is Trying Again.
Austria is preparing to enforce a new ban on Islamic headscarves for schoolgirls under 14, reviving a constitutional fight the country has already fought once. The government says the measure protects young girls from coercion. Rights organisations argue that it singles out Muslim children in a country already recording unusually high levels of anti-Muslim discrimination.
What the New Law Does
Austria’s parliament passed the measure on December 11, 2025. The legislation came from the governing ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS coalition. The far-right FPÖ supported it while unsuccessfully pushing for broader restrictions, including on school staff. The Greens opposed it.
The restriction covers girls under 14 in public and private schools. Enforcement is staged. A first violation leads to discussions involving the pupil, school and legal guardians rather than an immediate fine. Continued non-compliance can eventually bring penalties ranging from €150 to €800.
Full enforcement is scheduled for September 1, 2026. The government estimates that around 12,000 girls could be affected, although that figure is an extrapolation rather than a precise count.
The government has paired the policy with programmes aimed at girls, boys and parents. Officials describe the headscarf on young girls as connected to coercion, gender inequality and expectations surrounding female sexuality.
Austria Has Already Tried This
The constitutional problem is not hypothetical.
In 2020, Austria’s Constitutional Court struck down an earlier headscarf ban for primary-school pupils. The court concluded that the measure effectively targeted Muslim girls and violated principles of equality and religious neutrality.
The replacement law has already reached the same court.
In June 2026, families challenged the new legislation before it entered into force. Their applications were rejected because the challengers were not yet directly affected. That was a procedural decision. The court did not rule that the new hijab ban itself is constitutional.
Once enforcement begins, a new challenge on the merits can be brought.
71% Reported Racial Discrimination
The wider social context makes this more than a school-dress dispute.
Austria also recorded some of the highest broader discrimination levels in the survey. Those findings are particularly significant when the government is introducing a measure directed specifically at visibly Muslim schoolgirls.
Europe’s Anti-Racism Monitor Raises a Related Concern
The Council of Europe’s anti-racism commission, ECRI, published its latest report on Austria in June 2026, its seventh since monitoring began. The report does not name or adjudicate the headscarf law itself. But it does call for continued efforts to ensure equal treatment and inclusion in schools for groups vulnerable to discrimination, explicitly naming Muslim schoolgirls alongside pupils of African descent.
That recommendation didn’t arrive in a vacuum. It landed months into the exact debate it describes, over a law the affected community says stigmatises the same girls ECRI is asking Austria to protect.
Austria says the ban protects Muslim girls. Europe’s own anti-racism monitor is separately asking Austria to guarantee equal treatment for Muslim schoolgirls in its schools. The two positions sit uneasily next to each other, even without ECRI naming the law directly.
Protection or Discrimination?
Rights groups reject the government’s framing. Amnesty International Austria described the legislation as discriminatory and an expression of anti-Muslim racism, arguing that assumed coercion cannot be solved through another form of coercion.
The government insists the law protects children from social and family pressure. Its critics say it removes religious choice from Muslim girls while claiming to liberate them.
Austria has therefore arrived back at essentially the same question its highest court confronted in 2020.
The law has passed parliament. It has survived an early court challenge on procedure. But it has not yet survived constitutional review on its merits.
September 1 may begin that fight all over again.
By Shizza Umer
Hyperlinked Sources
- Austrian Parliament: Kopftuchverbot in Schulen für Mädchen bis 14 Jahren mehrheitlich beschlossen (National Council vote, PK1172)
- Austrian Parliament: Kopftuchverbot für Mädchen bis 14 Jahre in Schulen nimmt letzte Hürde im Bundesrat (final passage and enforcement provisions, PK1221)
- France24 (AFP): Austrian parliament passes headscarf ban for schoolgirls under 14
- Al Jazeera: Austrian lawmakers pass headscarf ban for under-14s in schools
- EU Agency for Fundamental Rights: Muslims in Europe Face Ever More Racism and Discrimination (Being Muslim in the EU)
- Council of Europe ECRI: Anti-racism commission notes progress and remaining challenges in Austria (Seventh Report on Austria)
- Euronews: Austrian constitutional court rules headscarf ban in primary schools unconstitutional
- RIHS: Headscarf Ban Before the Austrian Constitutional Court: Why the Applications Were Rejected
- Courthouse News Service: Austrian Parliament Approves Headscarf Ban in Schools (Amnesty International Austria statement)
