The French parliament voted to ban the burka, taking France one step closer to becoming the second nation after Belgium to pass this law.

Agencies reported on Tuesday that all political parties were in support of the ban, including the Socialist Party. The bill now goes before the senate where passage is likely.

However, the socialists did not join the majority due to disagreements over Sarkozy’s conservatives and xenophobic attractions in certain aspects of it. The declared reasons behind this ban are that the burka is a “prison for women” and a “sign of their submission to their husbands, brothers or fathers.”

While the law leans close to racial profiling, Sarkozy’s team has crafted the law to press against anyone who wears any face-covering material, not just Muslim women — specifying that the bill simply “forbid concealing one’s face in public.”

According to the bill, the government will charge a fine of 150 euros ($185) and, depending on the case, requires citizenship classes for woman who are caught wearing the face-covering veils in public.

The bill also punishes husbands, fathers, and anyone convicted of forcing someone to wear the burka.

Those committing the offense would face a year in prison and a 15,000 euro ($18,555) fine.

The burka ban will go through a final screening in the senate this September, but the biggest roadblock the bill faces is the question of whether banning the religious garment would comply with the constitution.

Regardless of what one thinks of the burka, critics say, it is absurd to think that enforcing the ban would liberate “all” women when, like any piece of clothing, some women may just see it as an outlet of personal expression.

Agencies