New attempt to ban headscarves for children under 14 in autumn

In interviews with the daily newspapers Der Standard and Die Presse, she announced that the issue would be addressed at one of the first cabinet meetings after the summer recess. The draft law is currently being coordinated within the government.

In December 2020, the Constitutional Court overturned the headscarf ban in Austria's elementary schools, introduced by the turquoise-blue federal government in autumn 2019, as unconstitutional. Plakolm explained in the "Standard" newspaper that the court had examined the criticism closely and would now take "accompanying measures" that the Supreme Court had lacked at the time.

Regarding the Constitutional Court's ruling at the time that one religion was being discriminated against, the department head told the "Presse" that it was "not about religion, but about the welfare of the child: that girls under the age of 14 are not oppressed." Religious maturity begins at the age of 14, "and every young woman can then decide for herself anyway."

"We want to empower girls to lead self-determined and visible lives. They should enjoy all the opportunities of a free Western society," Plakolm told the "Standard." "But we will also look at the boys who act as so-called moral guardians. Parents should be held accountable here, and youth welfare services and school psychologists will also be involved in such cases."