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Germany high court rejects religious challenge to mandatory sex education

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The German Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that children can be required to attend sex education classes, despite parents' religious objections. The suit was brought by Baptist parents who were fined €80 after keeping their two sons home from a school program on sexual abuse and another event celebrating Carnival. The court found that even though religious freedom is a fundamental right, there is also a very strong government interest in compulsory education. The court found that the school was "neutral and tolerant" toward the parents' religious beliefs and therefore did not violate the fundamental right. Germany has been criticized for restricting religious freedom by banning headscarves worn by Muslim women. In February, Human Rights Watch said that Germany's bans on religious clothing and symbols are discriminatory and violate international human rights standards. Headscarves have been the topic of fierce debate in Germany since teacher Fereshta Ludin filed suit after being denied a job in Stuttgart in 1998. Ludin argued that the German constitution guaranteed her right to wear the headscarf. The Constitutional Court ruled in 2003 that under then-current laws, she was correct, but it also noted that individual states could pass laws banning the headwear. Currently headscarves are prohibited in nine of the 16 German states, including in Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria. Baden-Wuerttemberg initially banned headscarves from schools in 2004, becoming the first state in Germany to do so.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 07, 2009 (boomark / email).