Kenyans Protest Attack On Women For Wearing Miniskirts

More than 200 people marched in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to protest a spate of attacks on women who were stripped naked and physically abused in public by groups of men for wearing clothing perceived as provocative.

Several of the alleged attacks were filmed on mobile-phone cameras and circulated on social media including Twitter and Facebook this month, sparking debates on radio shows about women’s rights and social mores. The demonstrators presented a petition to Chief Justice Willy Mutunga demanding tougher action against the abuse of women.

“In Kenya it’s the issue of socialization, where men don’t feel like women are equal and they are entitled to women’s bodies,” said Mwaura, an official with the advocacy group Flone Initiative, who helped organize today’s march. “The bottom line is that there is no behavior or dress that can justify doing what we’ve seen done to these women.”

A third of Kenyan women will experience sexual- or gender-based violence during their lifetimes and rape is the most under-reported crime, according to the Nairobi-based Coalition on Violence Against Women.

Attitudes must change across the region so it’s no longer socially acceptable to harass women and there should be more prosecutions for violence against women, Mwaura said by phone.

In neighboring Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni signed into law an anti-pornography bill in February that bans “indecent” clothing such as mini skirts.



Source: Bloomberg