Netherlands discriminates against fathers to placate Muslims

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I'm not very happy about this (HT: Sullivan):
This morning a neighbour asked me whether I wouldn’t be interested in enrolling my son for such a pre-playgroup. But, she added, it’s only for mothers, fathers are not allowed. Apparently the justification is that otherwise mothers from certain ethnic minorities, where gender segregation is an important issue, would not attend with their children.
Can't they have some mixed gender groups so fathers can attend? I'm not from the Netherlands, but I am a father who does a lot of daytime childcare while my wife finishes her PhD thesis. So I am offended on behalf of my Dutch counterparts. I understand the need to accommodate various cultural needs, but when that means denying a childcare resource to all fathers, that seems unfair.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Are all pre-playgroups mother's only? Are there father only playgroups? Or, as you suggest, mixed gender parent playgroups.

The devil's in the details. People take their religion's seriously and they ought to be given accommodation where possible.
5:22 PM, February 10, 2007
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