Unveiling Europe: bans on Muslim veils raise tough questions about religion and assimilation across the Continent.

• Author: Majerol, Veronica
• Position: INTERNATIONAL

Hind Ahmas, 33, has broken the law more times than she can count.

By going out in public in a niqab--a head-to-toe veil worn by some Muslim women that allows just a slit for the eyes--the divorced mother of a 5-year-old girl has been violating France's "burqa ban" since it went into effect in April 2011.

The law, which forbids covering one's face in public, for religious or secular reasons, affects an estimated 2,000 French Muslim women. Violators face fines of about $200, and some are required to take classes on French "values."

"This law has made my life miserable," says Ahmas, who says she's been wearing the niqab (see chart) by choice for eight years. "I feel like France has decided to boycott some human rights."

Defenders of the law, which is widely supported in France, say that allowing people to hide their faces in public prevents them from fully participating in French society, and could enable crime, or even terrorism. They say the law liberates women from oppression.

But critics say the law stems from growing anti-Muslim sentiment in France and across Europe.

The debate over Muslim veils raises tough questions: First, should a government be able to decide what constitutes female oppression, or should that choice be left to individuals? And second, where should society draw the line between tolerating religion and culture and encouraging-or even forcing--assimilation.

Bans Across Europe

Since the Revolution in 1789, France has embraced secularism--the idea that religion should be kept out of public life. That idea has been tested with the large influx of Muslim immigrants in the past decade. Many emigrated to France from former colonies like Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria.

Today, about 20 million of the European Union's 500 million people-about 4 percent--are Muslim, and the number is expected to rise sharply in the coming decades. Many are poor and poorly integrated into mainstream European society, widening rifts between Muslims and non-Muslims on a variety of issues, including religious attire.

France is the first nation to outlaw full-face veils in all public places, but other European countries have passed similar laws or considered them.

In Italy and Spain, there are a number of local prohibitions on veils. And Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain, and Denmark have debated restrictions.

Amnesty International, a human rights organization, opposes such bans on a number of grounds.

"This is an issue relating to the right of...