Abstract

This article investigates women's choices and personal freedom by reference to the European Court of Human Rights' jurisprudence on national laws banning the wearing of the Islamic headscarf by adult women. The article focuses on how ECHR law is used and misused to shape women's autonomy rights, with specific emphasis on how women's rights to develop and express their own individual identities are impacted under this legal regime. The reasoning of the case law is criticized: no evidence was produced that the wearing of the headscarf was anything other than the women's choice; furthermore, preventing them from wearing it restricts their autonomy in a way inconsistent with other jurisprudence of the same court.

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