The Sciences Po University in Paris hosted a "Hijab Day" on Wednesday, as student organizers attempted to end the stigma around women who wear the veil.
The group's Facebook account invited fellow students to cover their hair on Wednesday in a bit to "demystify the veil" "It's also about showing support to the idea of being in charge of out own bodies. We dress how we want, and don't accept being told otherwise," they wrote.
"Veiled or not, we are all equal." The group took aim at the "disturbing declarations" of France's women's rights minister, who faced ridicule and calls to resign last month after comparing women who wear the Muslim headscarf and veil to "negroes who supported slavery".
Over 250 people said they would attend the event, which is scheduled to run until 9pm.
The invitation welcomed men and women to try on the group's "prettiest scarves and pashmina" from 8 am, and invited guests to hang around for assistance, tutorials, and discussion.
The university said in a statement sent to The Local that such debates were welcome, as the campus "had always been a place for open debate and free expression".
Agnès De Féo, French author and documentary maker who specializes on the subject of the Muslim veil in France, said the "Hijab Day" could have a positive impact.
"It will help de-stigmatize the women who wear the hijab in France and allow women to put themselves in the position of those Muslim women who wear it," she told The Local. "It will encourage people to reflect and ask themselves questions".
De Féo, who is a strong critic of how France has cracked down on both the veil and burqa in recent years, says the widespread notion that women who wear the veil in France only do so because they feel obliged to by their husband is wrong and a "colonialist view".
"I have never met a Muslim woman in France who said she wore the veil because her husband made her," she added.
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