When terrorist attacks are claimed by radical Islamist groups, by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or attributed to deranged individuals with questionable links to Islam, ensuing political debates often focus on those who display the most visible signs of Islam – veiled Muslim women.

Curiously, some politicians appear to think that one of the most effective strategies for combating violent extremism, radicalisation and Islamism is to regulate Muslim women’s dress. The dubious link between terrorism and Muslim women’s clothing surfaced most recently in declarations made by Ms Laurence Rossignol, France’s minister for women’s rights.

Commenting on Western fashion houses that produce lines of clothing for observant Muslim women, Ms Rossignol berated them for being “irresponsible” and encouraging “the imprisonment of women’s bodies”.

… Professor Sahar Amer is Chair of the Department of Arabic Language and Cultures, The University of Sydney. She is a panellist at an April 28 conference, Islam in the Contemporary World, organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.