Women’s rights activist Seyran Ates: "Child’s headscarf is child abuse"

Underage girls who would have to wear a headscarf would later feel naked without a headscarf. A reflected, voluntary decision for or against the headscarf in adulthood is hardly possible – just as little as a healthy relationship with sexuality.

"When you put a headscarf on girls, you take away their childhood and sexualize them. You push them into the role of a sexual object and restrict their development, for me that’s child abuse", said German lawyer, author and women’s rights activist Seyran Ates during a panel discussion on Friday evening in the Klagenfurt concert hall on the subject of equality, Islam and patriarchal structures. The affected children would later feel naked without a headscarf, making a reflected, voluntary decision for or against the headscarf in adulthood hardly possible.