Some swimming pools across the UK are encouraging strict dress codes during Muslim-only swimming sessions, according to a report in the Telegraph.
Rules which require women cover from the neck to the ankles and wrists and men from the navel to the knees are being implemented at several municipal pools across the country, the paper said.
The moves run counter to the
‘burqini’ incident in France last week
, when a woman was thrown out of a Paris swimming pool for wearing the costume that covers most of the body.
The 35-year-old woman named as Carole was told that she could not wear the burqini, which she bought in Dubai and resembles a wetsuit with built-in hood, for hygiene reasons.
According to a report in the paper, several public leisure centres across the UK run separate swimming sessions at which modest dress should be adhered to.
Croydon Council on its website urged male swimmers at the Thornton Heath Leisure Centre to “cover the body from the navel to the knee and females must be covered from the neck to the ankles and wrists”. This guidance has since been removed from the website.
Meanwhile at Scunthorpe Leisure Centre, in North Lincolnshire, swimmers must ” follow the required dress code for this session (T-shirts and shorts/leggings that cover below the knee)”, the paper said.
However, the dress restrictions have caused anger among critics who say it encourages division between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Douglas Murray, director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, told the paper: “This kind of thing is extremely divisive.
“Non-Muslims see these extremist demands as an example of Muslims wanting things to fit into their lifestyle, when there aren’t similar things organised for Hindus, Buddhists or Jews.
“It also puts moderate Muslims in an awkward position as it suggests, wrongly, that they are not devout enough, simply because they choose not to cover themselves in a shroud in a pool.”
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