Burkini
[2] Zanetti's company Ahiida owns the trademarks to the words burkini and burqini, but they are sometimes used as generic terms for similar forms of swimwear.
Zanetti recognized that there was a lack of sportswear for Muslim girls and women that would meet the needs of both modesty and physical activity, so she designed some culturally appropriate activewear clothing.
Following the riots, Surf Life Saving Australia began an initiative to promote diversity and acceptance on Sydney's beaches by recruiting Muslim lifeguards.
By 2007, Zanetti had designed a uniform to be worn by female Muslim lifeguards: a special yellow and red two-piece swimsuit that covered the head and body.
Hanafi scholars such as those at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, reject full-body swimsuits as allowable wear in mixed company.
[11]: 30 The most restrictive standard of dress involves covering the entire body with a burqa or chadaree which includes a screen over the face and eyes.
"[10] Notable non-Muslim wearers have included Nigella Lawson, who wore a burkini in Australia in 2011, not out of religious observance, but to protect her skin.
[25] In August 2009, a woman in France was prevented from swimming in a public pool wearing a burkini, amidst ongoing controversy about Muslim dress.
French law emphasizes the importance of creating a "religiously neutral arena" in which people are expected to appear similar, as well as being treated equally.
In this, France differs significantly from countries such as the United States, which emphasizes individual freedom of choice about whether to express religious sentiments.
[29][30][31][32] Enforcement of the ban also hit beachgoers wearing a wide range of modest attire besides the burkini, such as an ordinary long-sleeved shirt and leggings worn over a typical swimsuit.
[29][32] The media reported that in one case, armed police forced a woman to remove the burkini she was wearing over her clothes on a beach in Nice.
[29][32] As of August 2016[update], the ban enacted by the commune of Villeneuve-Loubet has been suspended by France's highest administrative court, setting a potential precedent for further legal challenges.
[33] The ban was supported by a number of French politicians, including the socialist prime minister Manuel Valls, who said: "The burkini is not a new range of swimwear, a fashion.
"[34] Some commentators in France criticized the bans, and reports of Muslim women being stopped by police for wearing headscarves and long-sleeved clothes on beaches caused outrage among members of the French Socialist Party and rights groups.
[29][36][37] A New York Times editorial called French politicians' "paternalistic pronouncements on the republic's duty to save Muslim women from enslavement" bigotry and hypocritical.
[38] Liberal British Muslim activist Maajid Nawaz offered a critique of both the swimsuit and its ban: "Burkini is sad symbol of Islam today going backwards on gender issues.
[44] In December 2018, the municipality of Koblenz, citing hygiene concerns, voted to ban the burkini in public swimming pools in 2018, with CDU, AfD and Freie Wähler councillors forming a majority for the decision.
[47] In June 2018, a school in western Germany created controversy after it was found handing out burkinis to students who otherwise refused to attend swim classes.
"[49] Others, including Franziska Giffey, the German minister of family affairs, support the school's decision saying, "the most important thing is the well-being of the children, and that means that all learn to swim.
[49] In 2014 some private pools in Morocco's tourist hotspots prohibited the wearing of burkinis, citing "hygiene reasons", which also sparked political controversy.
[52] The September rule was prompted by young people swimming in public pools in street wear (e.g., ordinary T-shirts), which had caused concerns about hygiene.
[51] The more restrictive ban sparked controversies among some, including Sami Kanaan, the city's socialist administrative advisor, who called the rule a "denial of an open, multicultural and liberal Geneva".
