Muslim Woman Miscarries Baby After Hate Attack In France

A Muslim woman miscarried her baby after facing an hate attack in a Paris, France suburb last week.

The 21-year-old Muslim woman, four months pregnant, was assaulted in the Argenteuil suburb neighborhood last Thursday. Her lawyer claimed two young men attacked her.

In the victim’s report to the police she says two individuals she described as “skinheads” confronted her in the street. They grabbed at her clothing and “ripped the veil” off of her head while shouting anti-Islamic insults at her.

Reports say she was also hit in the hip and stomach before fleeing. Over the weekend the Muslim woman experienced a miscarriage, her lawyer said this week, after talking to the woman’s husband.

While there is the strong likelihood that the miscarriage was caused by the attack, that has yet to be officially confirmed.

This is the latest in a series of racial and ethnically motivated assaults in France.

One type of crime has become so frequent that it has been given the name “veil attacks,” where Muslim women seen wearing any of the traditional coverings will have them torn from their head or face.

France passed a controversial law in 2010 that banned the wearing of full traditional Muslim face veils in public, however it does not ban the wearing of a hijab headscarf.

Some critics have noted that such laws could be seen as formal approval of “veil attacks” and general anti-Muslim discrimination.

Last week Muslims in the Argenteuil clashed with Paris police who were trying to arrest a woman wearing the banned face coverings. Tear gas was eventually used to clear the angry crowd.

Reports that a Muslim woman miscarried after a violent hate-motivated attack in Paris tragically illustrate increasing ethnic tensions and anti-Muslim attitudes in France and Europe.

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