I think the decision whether to shake another person's hand is up to a person's discretion. It is up to every individual to decide whether they put out their hand and how they react if somebody offers their hand for a handshake. Same goes for kissing and any other form of greeting.
In this case, I'm assuming there was a public declaration by the teacher, which brings it out of the private domain and into "flag waving", as the school director called.
Not shaking the hand of a person from the other sex is also a question for religious Jews. Like any law, religious law should account for the society and customs in which a person lives. According to Jewish religious law one should also factor in the insult/hurt caused to another person by refusing to shake an offered hand. Modesty is an important goal, but so is being polite and not causing insult to your fellow men/women.
A female Muslim teacher has been suspended by a school in Utrecht for refusing to shake hands with men.
The management at Vader Rijn College asked the Equality Commission to examine the case to confirm whether it had acted correctly. The school teaches pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO).
Newspaper 'AD' broke the story on Friday that the woman, who is not native Dutch, has been asked to stay at home after she decided on religious grounds not to shake hands with men ever again. The school feels this is unacceptable
School director Bart Engbers said the woman's decision had come as a total surprise. She has worked for a little over a year at the school and her objection to shaking hands with men comes at the start of the new school year.
"If she doesn't want to shake hands at home, fine. But everyone is welcome at this school. Discussion is great, but religious and political flag-waving must stay at home," Engbers said.
He said teachers had to set a good example. "We are preparing our boys and girls for the labour market. We all know how fragile the situation is for allochtone (non native Dutch) young people. Therefore it is good that they shake hands during a job interview. We believe that is important."
Moreover, refusing to shake hands with men is discrimination, the director said.
Source: Expatica (English)
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