The demand for a type of swimsuit dubbed the “burkini” has sharply risen after more than a dozen French towns banned women from wearing them, People and other sources report.
The burkini is a swimsuit for women that leaves just the face, hands and feet exposed, according to People. The move follows a July terror attack in Nice and was first made by the mayor of Cannes, who called the swimsuits a “symbol of Islamic extremism.”
Several other French cities soon followed suit, and according to BBC News, the demand for the product has since risen 200 percent worldwide.
The ban has come under fire by women’s rights activists, as well as those arguing that the move amounts to Islamophobia.
Aheda Zanetti, who owns the trademark on “burkini” and lives in Australia, told BBC News, "No man in this entire world can tell us what to wear or what not to wear.”
Photos from a beach in Nice emerged Tuesday and soon went viral; they showed several male police officers forcing a woman to remove her head covering. According to the Guardian, the woman – only identified as Siam – said she was also fined in Cannes.
Police in Nice forced a woman to remove part of her clothing while enforcing burkini ban https://t.co/mQk6z5DeCF pic.twitter.com/gqipXL9bt3
— CNN (@CNN) August 24, 2016
