Women in Bosnia marched on a protest on Sunday, fighting against the ban of Hijab, the customary headscarves sported by Muslim women, when entering judicial institutions.
As an act of protest and as a way to fight for their rights, 2,000 Bosnian women participated on a march that lasted for an hour in Sarajevo, the country's capital. According to the BBC, the regulatory authority for Bosnia's judiciary bans all "religious signs," with a special mention on the headscarfs, or hijab.
Communist leaders in Bosnia have already banned the use of headscarf before the country gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. However, this week's protest happened due to a recent rule that applies to courts and other kinds of legal institutions from the country's high judicial council, as reported by TIME.
Samira Zunic Velagic, the protest organizer, spoke to BBC and commented on the ban.
"[It is a] serious attack against Muslim honor, personality and identity," said Velagic to the BBC, adding that the new ruling is meant to hinder the Muslim woman's right to work.
Some of the women who attended the protest carried signs that said "The hijab is my right."
Muslims are in no way a minority in every part of the world. In Eastern Europe alone, Muslims make up around 40 percent of the population. According to Pew Research, Muslims made up of 45 percent of Bosnia-Herzegovina's population while Christians took 52 percent. Pew Research conducted a survey on Muslim behavior in Bosnia, and discovered different behavior patterns.
In the survey, Pew Research found out that Muslims got involved in social hostility the most in 2013. In August 2013, three Serbs attacked four Muslims on their way to the mosque in Zvornik during the holiday, Eid Al-Fitr. The survey also revealed that few Muslims in Bosnia count non-Muslims as members of their cliques.
