AIBU to think face coverings in public should be banned?

Of course it hasn’t. I was pointing out the absurdity of the suggestion that banning face coverings will prevent violent and antisocial crime. It won’t. People who commit those crimes will simply continue to commit them, with or without face coverings. If they don’t care about laws that prohibit theft and violence do you really think they will be rushing to follow a face covering ban?!

And those who are immunocompromised or wear religious face coverings will have been effectively banned from public life - and those who are determined to commit crimes will continue to do so. Antisocial and violent behaviour will continue as long as the police continue to ignore it, and as long as the punishments imposed on those who do face prosecution remain lenient. More effective policing and harsher punishments are the solution.

”Last week a group of people wearing pink hats committed a violent, antisocial act. Banning hats will prevent this happening again.”

Can you explain how pink hats help people get away with violent antisocial acts without their identity being recordable for prosecution purposes? If you can and this definitely happened then I’m all for banning pink hats too. But it has never happened has it.

You can't keep repeating that this is about crime OP, whilst including Muslim women in your argument who form a teeny tiny proportion of the criminal population.

There have been several recorded instances of men using niqabs for nefarious or criminal purposes. It helps anyone evade cctv and hampers identification.

However, a ban on all face coverings isn’t targeting any one particular group, despite efforts of yourself and PPs to make it so. It is a fair and necessary measure.

Some Muslim countries have produced adverts implying that it’s ok to sexually assault a woman who isn’t wearing the required face/body coverings.

Women in Iran and other Muslim controlled countries have been beaten to death by the authorities for not wearing the required hair coverings.

Some Muslim preachers in the UK teach that not covering yourself means you are immoral. The rape gangs targeted white girls around the country because they perceived them to be ‘immoral’

It’s hard to argue that it’s really a free choice.

Change my word to face then.

My point remains that the countries you list ban coverings in public buildings, not spaces. This would do nothing to resolve your balaclava issue or make women suddenly chatty.

I agree, OP. I live in a multicultural inner city area and I fear that the niqab may be on the rise.

They've banned face coverings in Austria, so it can be done. But we would need to be a strong country that values it's culture.

They have banned all face coverings in Austria. Austrians are strong people who value their culture.

But I ask again, what about beards and sunglasses and fillers. Do you mean just fabric covering or disguises in a more general sense?
because a man in a big beard is quite disguised.
and hairstyles and clothes also disguise people.

I know what you mean about Balaclavas and they do seem sinister but I don’t think you can ever ban them. One of my neighbours wears a balaclava every day of the year. To my knowledge I’ve never seen him without it. I assume he’s covering something he doesn’t like. He certainly doesn’t look friendly with it but it’s a free country.

Quite famously, turbans only cover one’s hair.

it’s all redundant anyway because the country can’t afford to enforce existing laws like burglaries and assaults, so it’s not like we have the capacity to start criminalising women for what they wear.

I happen to think that the niqab being a bit unfriendly is a very flimsy reason for banning it. We may as well start fining people for not saying hello to strangers on the street, or refusing to wave to their neighbours. yes these are unsociable behaviours but i don’t think they justify getting the police involved!

Is the turban ok because it’s men with the choice so must be legit, whereas women can’t make free choices so if they’re wearing a hijab or niqab, it must be forced? Also, not every Sikh wears a turban.

I have zero issues with niqabs or burqas, if a woman has chosen to wear it. I can understand why they would want to, I imagine it provides a certain sense of security. I hate being gawped at by men so I get it.

I don't really like niqabs or burqas but I don't believe in the state deciding what I can and can't wear and I don't think things should be banned because I don't like them.

Also, why would a shoplifter care about breaking the mask law when they are breaking the no stealing law? The shoplifting problem is caused by punishments that are too light, and demand from otherwise law abiding people who'll buy a cheap joint in a pub car park.

The police struggle to enforce the laws we have already, we don't need more laws- particularly ones that are an easy tick in a box whilst they ignore things that are harder to solve.

Edited to change law abusing to law abuding

I have. It's not common but it happens and it's bloody awful.

Sainsburys could very easily put a sign up asking people to remove non medical masks and head/face coverings which are not religious. They did this with scooters and wheelie shoes. In fact, I have seen this with an accompanying infographic.

There's loads of balaclavas around now, it's quite worrying

But you seem to want head coverings banned everywhere OP- by your own admission, most of the countries with a 'ban' have limited this to public buildings (law courts, council offices and the like) and not privately owned spaces, transport or fresh air.

One of the main reason for the uptick of loutish behaviour (masks worn or otherwise) by teens is a TikTok craze. Banning harmful content online and controlling exposure of young people to social media would arguably have a far greater impact on these toxic social media crazes.

The Lower the Flags group have been forced into covering their faces after Raise The Flags (TM) took photos of them and plastered them all over the internet leading to threats of violence and even death threats.

The police are worse than useless, and won’t enforce the rules.

I agree about the shoplifting - why do you need a balaclava in sainsburys during warmer months , there has to be something done to prevent shoplifting it’s very blatant now.

During the winter I'm in absolute agony with sinus pain outside without any face covering (balaclava / scarf over face /etc.) A blanket ban just because someone feels some way about religious dress would make me rage. Try being considerate of others!

Hardly “loads”. A small handful, at most. And all of them are countries where terror attacks related to face coverings were an actual issue. They didn’t ban them on the off chance that it might happen one day.