Durban girl won nose stud battle

IN a similar case in KwaZulu-Natal in 2005, Durban Girls' High School was lambasted by the Equality Court for banning a teenage Hindu girl from wearing a nose stud.

The school and the KwaZulu-Natal Education Department were rapped over the knuckles after the girl's mother, Navaneetham Pillay, claimed her daughter's right to equality had been violated.

The girl, who is not named in court papers, had returned to school from holiday in 2004 with a nose piercing.

The school's code of conduct provided that, in respect of jewellery, only one set of earring studs and a watch could be worn by pupils.

Pillay and her daughter were from a south Indian family that sought to carry out the traditions of the women before them. Pillay also had a nose piercing.

The stud symbolises the physical maturity of a young woman and is an indication that she is ready for marriage.

Tradition dictates that after her 16th birthday, the grandmother will replace the gold stud with a diamond stud.

Pillay contended that her daughter had not worn the stud for adornment or fashion purposes.

In February 2005, the school's governing body banned the girl from wearing the nose stud.

They maintained that Pillay had chosen to send her daughter to Durban Girls' High and in doing so, accepted the school's code of conduct.

The Equality Court found, however, that a ban against the wearing of the nose stud undermined the value of religious and cultural symbols and sent a message that those practices did not merit the same protection as other rights or freedom.

"Here we have actual harm to dignity as a result of unfair treatment and not just potential harm," it said in its ruling.

"The failure by the school to recognise the [Hindu] place in society and to allow them to enjoy their culture and practise their religion, amounts to repudiation of their equal worth and respect as human beings."

The court accordingly declared prohibiting of the nose stud null and void. - Kathryn Kimberley