As the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks to prevent the spread of infection is mandated in many countries, and it is advised and gaining popularity in many more. This poses special challenges in France where face coverings have been forbidden by law, yet wearing masks is now required. 

The relevant law was passed on October 11, 2010, (under President Nicolas Sarkozy) and forbids hiding one’s face in public. There are hefty fines for infractions, and women wearing a full face veil can be required to attend citizenship classes. With the COVID-19 crisis, the government has needed to address the legality as well as the social repercussions of encouraging citizens to wear face masks. France’s Interior Ministry confirmed that the ban on general face coverings will still apply during the COVID-19 pandemic, even as people are encouraged to cover their faces. “Wearing a mask intended to prevent any risk of contagion by COVID-19 does not constitute a criminal offense,” the ministry said.

The issue is that the face covering law was largely a reaction to Muslim women wearing the niqab that covers the face except for the eyes (though it has also been invoked against some protesters wearing masks). That practice has been seen as violating France’s principles of laicite, or separation of religious and secular domains. The so-called “burqa ban” has been a source of tension with some Muslim communities, with some seeing it as a deliberate slight to Muslims while others view it as ensuring common civic values and especially women’s full equality.

There are ironies as mask and burqa contend as social symbols. France is thus grappling with what it means to be a patriot, and whether face coverings are really the emblem of radicalization that they’ve been made out to be over the past decade.

(Based on: April 5, 2020, Le Figaro article [French], and May 10, 2020, Washington Post article)