In France, the law is clear. Wearing a headscarf in the private sector is legal. In 2021, the Court of Cassation even ruled that the dismissal of an employee wearing a headscarf was illegal. On paper, everything is fine.
In reality, the figures tell a completely different story.
80%. This is the figure to remember.
A study conducted among 2,000 Parisian SMEs in March 2024 showed that wearing the hijab reduces the chances of receiving a positive response to an application by more than 80%.
The method is rigorous: pairs of fictional candidates, identical in every way, randomly veiled or unveiled in their CV photo. The result is conclusive.
Even more revealing: this effect is the same for candidates of French and Maghrebin origin.
It's not a question of origin. It's a question of the headscarf.
35% versus 70%: two Frances in the same labor market
Statistics from the INED's Trajectoires et Origines survey show that the employment rate for veiled women is 35%, while Muslim women who do not wear a headscarf have an employment rate of 70%.
The same religion. The same country. A gap of 35 points — depending on whether or not one wears a headscarf.
INED also established that the unemployment rate for Muslim women was twice as high as that for non-Muslim women in France.
Graduates, qualified — yet relegated
Discrimination does not stop at hiring. It also affects — and perhaps especially — the most qualified women.
According to a study by the Jean Jaurès foundation, approximately 63% of Muslims in management positions or working in fields requiring higher education degrees have experienced discrimination in the past five years.
The co-founders of Job Hijab France, a job platform dedicated to veiled women, report receiving applications from women with master's degrees or higher, who are unable to find employment commensurate with their qualifications.
They are reduced, in their own words, to a headscarf and Islam — even though their CVs are full of skills.
Stanford researchers who cross-referenced quantitative data and French institutional statistics concluded that veiled women predominantly gravitate towards downgraded, religious, community, volunteer, or entrepreneurial work — not by choice, but by exclusion.
Invisible work: the only open door
When it comes to invisible work — cleaning, community work, or teleworking — the visibility of the headscarf does not pose a problem.
In other words: a veiled woman can clean offices. She cannot manage them.
Increasing, underreported discrimination
In 2024, the Defender of Rights received 5,679 complaints related to discrimination, representing 5.5% of the total. Statistics show that these discriminations particularly affect Muslim women wearing a headscarf and are mainly concentrated in the employment sector.
But these figures represent only a fraction of the reality. According to a legal expert, the problem remains largely underestimated because these women feel like victims but do not necessarily have the strength to see the lengthy legal process through to the end.
What the numbers don't say
The numbers don't tell of the morning when one removes her headscarf in front of the mirror to be allowed to exist in the eyes of the world. They don't tell of years of study rendered null and void by a photo on a CV. They don't tell of the impossible choice between one's faith and one's salary.
Nor do they tell of the resistance. Silent, collective, growing.
Some veiled women, faced with this climate, doubt their fundamental rights and consider leaving France. Others choose to stay and resist.
Still others — choose to build.
These women exist. Their diplomas exist. Their skills exist. It is time for France to recognize this.