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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904504.html
Belgium Votes to Ban Full-Face Veils in Public
(Washington Post) Edward Cody - Belgium's lower house of Parliament unanimously voted on Thursday to prohibit women from wearing full-face Islamic veils in public places, the first move of its kind in Western Europe. The bill forbids anyone to appear in public with his or her face hidden in a way that makes identification impossible. The French government has pledged to pass a similar ban by September, and similar bills have been introduced in the parliaments of Italy and the Netherlands, as the sight of women on the streets of European cities covered from head to toe in dark robes with only a slit or a screen at eye level has aroused resentment. The full veil has been condemned by European politicians of the right and left as an affront to the dignity of women and, because it hides a woman's face, as a security risk in schools, banks and government offices.