Back to school: Muslim girls battle France’s new abaya ban | The Take

French students returned to class facing yet another battle over what some Muslim girls are choosing to wear. This time it’s the abaya, a long loose-fitting dress. Dozens of students were sent home after nearly 300 showed up to the first day of classes in abayas. French women have been here for a while now: head coverings, including the hijab, were first banned in public schools back in 2004. So how will this latest ban impact Muslim students and communities today?

In this episode:

Loubna Reguig, national president of the Muslim Students of France

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Sonia Bhagat, Chloe K. Li and our host Malika Bilal. Miranda Lin fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Munera AlDosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.