Teenager Takes 'Purity Ring' Case to Court

|PIC1|A 16-year-old is due in the High Court to accuse her school of discriminating against Christians by banning the wearing of "purity rings".

The teenager, Lydia Playfoot, was told by Millais School in Horsham, West Sussex, to remove her ring or face expulsion.

She alleges discrimination because the school allows Sikh and Muslim pupils to wear bracelets and headscarves.

The school denies breaching human rights law, saying the ring is not an essential part of the Christian faith.

A group of girls at the school were wearing the "Silver Ring Thing", which is part of a Christian education project aimed at helping teenage girls value themselves, make the right choices about their future, and reduce Britain's ever-increasing rise in sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies among teenagers.

She said: "My friends and I have had detentions and been taught in isolation for wearing the ring.

"I feel like I've been treated the same as someone who is caught bringing cannabis into school.

"My ring is a symbol of my religious faith. I think, as a Christian, it says we should keep ourselves pure from sexual sinfulness and wearing the ring is a good way of making a stand.

These rings were inscribed with a biblical verse and Ms Playfoot has said the jewellery was intended to symbolise "her Christian commitment to sexual abstinence until marriage".

Ms Playfoot will claim her right to be able to express her religious beliefs, under Article Nine of the Human Rights Act, has been breached.

The school will insist that it is not operating a discriminatory policy because allowances made for Sikhs and Muslims only occur for items integral to their religious beliefs.

It argues that a Christian pupil would be allowed to wear a crucifix.