Three friends on a beach in Marseille, 29 August 2016. Paimages/AP. All rights reserved.
In the aftermath of the Nice attack on 14 July 2016 and the murder of a priest in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray on 26 July, the burkini became headline material in France when on 28 July, the mayor of Cannes introduced a ban preventing ‘access to beaches and for swimming … to anyone not wearing appropriate clothing, respectful of moral standards and secularism’.
Thirty-one communes passed a law banning the wearing of ‘religious clothing’ on their beach. Of course, this ban did really not target all religions, but was a direct attack against women wearing so-called burkinis, and by extension acted as yet further stigmatisation of anyone associated with Islam.
