The Dangers of Extreme Secularity and Extreme Spirituality in Determining Women’s Rights: France’s Laicité vs. Iran’s Compulsory Hijab

April 13, 2024

Spring 2024 Student Symposium: REWA Minors

This project examines how Muslim women’s rights, or lack thereof, are inextricably linked to oppression from state governments in both European and Middle Eastern societies, regardless of whether they live in a theocracy or a democracy. Citizens of France are facing a form of forced secularity with women being denied the right to cover their hair with hijabs in many public spaces. Women in Iran, on the other hand, have been confronted with the opposite: forced religious practices, primarily in the form of the compulsory hijab. This project looks at the different ways that these two groups of women organize to fight for their respective causes that are ultimately rooted in the same goal: the right of choice.

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About the Author

Alice Bolandhemat

Alice Bolandhemat (SFS’24) is an undergraduate student in the Walsh School of Foreign Service majoring in international politics with a concentration in international security and minors in French and religion, ethics, and world affairs. She was born in Los Angeles and later moved to Chicago. During her time at Georgetown, she has served a deputy editor for The Hoya, a university tour guide for Blue & Gray, an ESL tutor for the D.C. Schools Project, and an intern for the U.S. Department of State. In her free time, she enjoys dog walking and reading creative nonfiction. She is passionate about the role of faith in Middle Eastern politics as well as the intersection between women’s rights and religious freedom. She was part of the spring 2023 cohort of the Doyle Global Dialogue and studied at Georgetown’s Villa Le Balze in Fiesole, Italy.