Muslim women’s religious dress is a matter that exercises many minds and the recent public debate on the so-called “burkini” (preferably phrased as “body covering swimwear”) is the umpteenth variation on the theme. Following the French commotion on the presence of “burkini” wearers at the coast in 2016, the “burkini” became the subject of public debate in Belgium. Whereas the “burkini” did not cause much public unrest in the context of the Belgian coast, the majority of local swimming pools in the Flemish region of Belgium do have dress codes banning the “burkini”, even before the (inter)national media outcry. This article discusses the prevalence of these restrictive dress regulations and scrutinizes the rationalisation behind local “burkini” bans in municipal swimming pools. These findings are complemented with the perspectives and experiences of “burkini” wearers, who challenged the “burkini” bans before the court. Finally, this article analyses the “burkini” bans in light of European human rights standards.

中文翻译：

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比利时市政游泳池禁止“布基尼”

穆斯林妇女的宗教服饰是一件牵动着许多人的心思的事情，最近关于所谓的“布基尼”（最好称为“身体覆盖泳装”）的公开辩论是该主题的无数变体。继 2016 年法国在海岸上出现“布基尼”穿着者的骚动之后，“布基尼”成为比利时公开辩论的主题。尽管“布基尼”在比利时海岸的背景下并没有引起太多公众骚乱，但比利时佛兰德地区的大多数当地游泳池确实有禁止“布基尼”的着装规定，甚至在（国际）媒体强烈抗议之前. 本文讨论了这些限制性着装规定的普遍性，并审查了市政游泳池中地方“布基尼”禁令背后的合理性。这些发现与“布基尼”穿着者的观点和经历相辅相成，他们在法庭上挑战了“布基尼”禁令。最后，本文根据欧洲人权标准分析了“布基尼”禁令。