bad_meetz_evil
03-22-2006, 05:05 PM
A Muslim teenager has lost a legal battle after teachers sent her home for wearing a traditional dress.
Shabina Begum, 17, won a Court of Appeal ruling last year that Denbigh High School in Luton violated her human rights by excluding her.
But a panel of five Law Lords overturned the decision.
Shabina said: "I hope other people out there that want to practice their religion whilst having an education go further and don't compromise."
But she admitted: "I cannot understand why I've lost."
Justice Bingham said in his ruling that the key question was whether the school denied effective access to education to the girl.
Shabina was sent home from school in September 2002 for wearing the jilbab - a long, flowing gown covering all her body except her hands and face.
The school, where four-fifths of the students are Muslim, had argued that the jilbab posed a health and safety risk.
Teachers also claimed it might cause divisions among pupils, with those who wore traditional dress possibly being seen as better Muslims than others.
If Shabina won the case, pupils would have had an established right to manifest their religious beliefs at school.
The girl had been wearing the shalwar kameez (trousers and tunic) from the time she started at the school, at the age of 12.
But, in September 2002, she insisted on changing to a dress.
Shabina said the shalwar kameez was against the rules of her religion for a woman who had reached sexual maturity.
Shabina Begum, 17, won a Court of Appeal ruling last year that Denbigh High School in Luton violated her human rights by excluding her.
But a panel of five Law Lords overturned the decision.
Shabina said: "I hope other people out there that want to practice their religion whilst having an education go further and don't compromise."
But she admitted: "I cannot understand why I've lost."
Justice Bingham said in his ruling that the key question was whether the school denied effective access to education to the girl.
Shabina was sent home from school in September 2002 for wearing the jilbab - a long, flowing gown covering all her body except her hands and face.
The school, where four-fifths of the students are Muslim, had argued that the jilbab posed a health and safety risk.
Teachers also claimed it might cause divisions among pupils, with those who wore traditional dress possibly being seen as better Muslims than others.
If Shabina won the case, pupils would have had an established right to manifest their religious beliefs at school.
The girl had been wearing the shalwar kameez (trousers and tunic) from the time she started at the school, at the age of 12.
But, in September 2002, she insisted on changing to a dress.
Shabina said the shalwar kameez was against the rules of her religion for a woman who had reached sexual maturity.