Austrian official urges end to headscarves in kindergarten

VIENNA – The deputy mayor of the Austrian city of Salzburg is urging Muslim parents not to send their daughters to kindergarten wearing headscarves, saying the covering degrades their children by suggesting they are sex objects.

Anja Hagenauer acknowledges headscarves cannot be prohibited in kindergartens run by the city. She speaks instead of an “urgent recommendation” and says the city’s office for minors might be contacted to exert pressure on parents ignoring the call.

State broadcaster ORF cited her on Wednesday as saying that she is not interested in prohibiting “something religious” but is concerned that headscarves suggest that children wearing them “are looked at by men in a lustful way.”