Christine Defraigne
Defraigne in 2015
President of the Belgian Senate
In office
14 October 2014 – 3 December 2018
Preceded bySabine de Bethune
Succeeded byJacques Brotchi
Personal details
Born (1962-04-29) 29 April 1962 (age 61)
Liège, Belgium
Political partyReformist Movement
Parent

Christine Defraigne (born 1962[1][2]) is a Belgian politician and a member of the MR. She was the President of the Belgian Senate, in office 2014 to 2018.[3]

Political views

In 2009 Christine Defraigne proposed a nationwide ban of the burqa.[4] She has also called the burkini a "rejection of the freedom of women".[5] Her proposal (together with Joseph Arens) to stop slaughtering animals without anesthesia (like ritual slaughter) resulted in a ban on this practice in Wallonia.[6] She is a feminist.[7][8]

Criticism

Defraigne in Tehran for a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

In 2016 she was criticized for wearing a headscarf while visiting Tehran. Her decision to visit the country and wear a hijab was heavily criticized by Iranian born Belgian activist Darya Safai who accused Defraigne of condoning oppressive policies created by the Iranian government.[8][9] She defended herself saying she "didn't do anything different from what other western prominent women do".[10]

Notes

  1. ^ "Christine Defraigne, Sénatrice des entités fédérées (Parlement wallon)".
  2. ^ "Christine Defraigne, Deelstaatsenator (Parlement van het Waalse Gewest)".
  3. ^ "Belgian senate".
  4. ^ "MR wil boerka verbieden in het hele land".
  5. ^ "Die Presseschau von Samstag, dem 20. August 2016".
  6. ^ "Wallonië verbiedt het onverdoofd slachten van dieren".
  7. ^ "Tweet from Christine Defraigne". 27 April 2016. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. je suis laique feministe et je sais ce que j ai dit .
  8. ^ a b "De flaters van Defraigne". 9 May 2016. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. De senaatsvoorzitster kreeg de afgelopen week, vooral van Franstalige kant, heel wat kritiek omdat ze tijdens haar bezoek een grote hoofddoek droeg. Het werd de MR-politica, die feministe en laïque is, niet in dank afgenomen dat ze dat symbool van onderdrukking van vrouwen droeg.
  9. ^ "Darya Safai: 'Jullie zouden gerust banger mogen zijn'". 10 June 2017. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018. Hoe kan je in hemelsnaam je eigen waarden verdedigen, als je moeiteloos meestapt in de extremistische logica van zo'n regime?
  10. ^ "De flaters van Defraigne". 9 May 2016. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. In een debat gistermiddag op de RTL, in C'est pas tous les jours dimanche, reageerde ze heftig. Met foto's als bewijs zei ze dat ze niets anders gedaan had dan wat andere westerse vrouwelijke prominenten doen.
Political offices Preceded bySabine de Bethune President of the Belgian Senate 2014–2018 Succeeded byJacques Brotchi


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