Muslim schoolgirls can not skip swimming lessons on religious grounds, one of Germany’s top courts ruled on Wednesday.
The ruling was sparked by a case involving a Muslim girl who argued she should not have to take part in swimming classes because she would see bare-chested boys in their swimming trunks.
The 13-year-old from Frankfurt am Main took the case to Germany’s top administrative court – The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig – after losing the case at a court in Kassel, west Germany last year.
Judges in Leipzig said the girl could wear a full-body swimsuit known as a burkini to help maintain her religious beliefs.
It argued that in the summer, outside of school, men also went about bare-chested and school could not suppress the “social reality”.
