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Feel like a swim? New U.K. rules require women to cover up from neck to ankles

Swimmers at municipal pools must wear “modest” costumes so they don’t offend Muslim bathers

New rules that ban even non-Muslims from wearing non-modest attire at public pools during special swim sessions for Muslims has sparked controversy in Britain, the Telegraph reports. Bathers at municipal pools have been told that they must comply with the “modest” code of dress required by Islamic custom, with women covered from the neck to the ankles and men, who swim separately, covered from the navel to the knees. The segregated swim sessions have elicited anger from critics and politicians who say they are divisive and put a strain on relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, the paper reports, though one British lawmaker defended them on the grounds they show respect for religious groups that impose strict rules on segregation. In a related—albeit it counter development—in France, a woman is threatening to sue after being thrown out of a public pool for wearing a burkini. The headscarf, tunic and trouser outfit believed to allow Muslim women to preserve their modesty in the water was deemed “unhygienic.”

The Telegraph

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