For the first time in Switzerland's history, the country has enforced a ban on the full-face veil - which means women wearing a burka (full body covering with mesh over the eyes) or niqab (full body covering with a slit for the eyes) could face fines of almost 10,000 euros.
But it is not the only country to introduce such a controversial law. Here's where Muslim women stand on wearing the veil across the world...
France
France was the first European country to ban the burqa in public. It started in 2004, with a clampdown on students in state-run schools displaying any form of religious symbol. But in April 2011, the government went further by bringing in a total public ban on full-face veils. President Nicolas Sarkozy saying they were “not welcome” in France.
Women can be subjected to 150 euro fines and instructions in citizenship for breaking the ban. Anyone who forces a woman to cover her face risks a 30,000 euro fine.
Belgium
Belgium followed closely in France’s footsteps by introducing its own ban on full-face veils in 2011. It outlaws any clothing that obscures people’s faces in public places.
A woman caught wearing a veil can be jailed for up to seven days or forced to pay a 1378 euro fine. The government passed the law almost unanimously.
The Netherlands
Last year the Netherlands approved a partial ban on the full veil, meaning women cannot have their faces covered in schools, hospital and on public transport.
It doesn't completely outlaw the veil in public, but forbids it in "specific situations where it is essential for people to be seen" or for security reasons.
Italy
Italy does not have a national ban on the full-face veil, but in 2010, the town of Novara imposed restrictions – though there is currently no established fines system. In some parts of Italy, local authorities have banned ‘burkinis’ or full Islamic swimming costumes.
Spain
Several parts of Catalonia in Spain have laws against burkas and niqabs. In 2013, Spain’s Supreme Court overturned the ban in some parts, ruling that it “limits religious freedom”. But other areas have carried on - thanks to a 2014 ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) ruling that banning the veil does not breach human rights.
Chad
Women have been banned from wearing a full veil in Chad since two suicide bomb attacks in June 2015. The government banned it two days later. The prime minister Kalzeube Pahimi Deubet called it 'camouflage' and said all burqas seen on sale would be burnt. People could be arrested and sentenced to jail time for wearing them.
Cameroon
Cameroon followed suit a month after Chad by banning burkas following suicide bombings by people wearing veils. The ban is now active in five of the country’s provinces.
Niger
The veil is banned in Diffa, a region that has been hit by Boko Haram, and the president suggested the hijab – or headscarf – could also be banned.
Congo-Brazzaville
The veil has been banned here since 2015 in public places to “prevent any attack of terrorism.”
Turkey
Turkey has a predominantly Muslim population, but until 2013, there were rules banning women from wearing headscarves in the country’s state institutions. Women can now wear the veil everywhere bar in the judiciary, military and police.
Switzerland
The the latest country to pass a ban on the full-face veil, though it only stands in the region of Tessin. The law came into force on July 1, 2016 and anyone caught wearing a veil can be fined up to 9,200 euros.
Background | History of the Burqa
The Koran enjoins all Muslims – whether male or female – to dress modestly and refrain from revealing “any parts of their bodies, except that which is necessary”.
Beyond this general instruction, the holy book offers no specific guidance on female clothing. Its pages contain no mention of the burqa or, for that matter, of the other varieties of dress that are now associated with Islam, including the hijab, or veil.
The burqa appears to have originated in Persia in the 10th century, before slowly spreading to the Arabian Peninsula and present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In Arabia, a variant known as the "niqab" was promoted by the ultra-conservative Wahhabi school of Islam; in South Asia, the burqa was adopted by the Deobandis, the local strand of fundamentalism.
When the Taliban captured Kabul and seized power over most of Afghanistan in 1996, they made it compulsory for all women to wear the burqa.
Elsewhere in the Muslim world, the garment remained largely unknown until relatively recently. It was the rise of the Wahhabi and Deobandi traditions which spread the burqa to areas where it was previously invisible, including West Africa.
Hardly any women wore the burqa in West Africa until two or three decades ago. Today, it remains rare in most countries in the region, explaining why some governments have imposed a ban without a public backlash.
The burqa is a reflection of culture rather than an accepted interpretation of Islam and it remains an alien imposition in large areas of the Muslim world. Since the rise of Boko Haram, it has also come to be seen as a security risk, hence the gradual spread of the ban through West Africa.
A map showing the countries where the veil is banned
telegraph.co.uk
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