The Law Development Centre in Uganda banned a young lady from attending lectures for dressing in a mini - skirt as shown in the picture above. The law student identified as Joanine Nanyange, took to Facebook on Wednesday to protest against the unfair treatment she received from the security officers at the centre's gate.
According to the victim, she said the officer explained that her skirt will distract the boys in her class and make them not concentrate. Read her post after the cut...
Read her full post below…
Today,
dressed like this, I went to the Law Development Centre to attend
classes. Unlike all other days, I saw two women seated right outside the
Centre's gate, one dressed in a Khaki Police uniform. It was an unusual
sight and I thought there was something or someone epic on campus. I
got off the boda boda and
walked towards the gate. The uniformed woman flagged me down and being
the law abiding citizen that I am, I stopped. She asked me to pull my
skirt down to see how far down it could go. I burst into laughter. Her
request didn't make sense. She insisted, quite seriously. I told her
that was the farthest my skirt could go and there was no need to pull
it. The other woman, ever with a very satisfied grin, told me I could
not access the campus because my skirt was not long enough for LDC
standards. I was shocked. Yes. Shocked. Seeing the bewilderment on my
face, the two women laboured to explain. Apparently, skirts like mine
attract the boys and men that we study with and bar them from
concentrating. So they could not be allowed!!!!!!
During
induction week, the Deputy Director of the Centre, a woman, told us we
shouldn't wear clothes that distract 'our brothers' most of whom are
married. I posted about it here. When I got the so-called rules of LDC, I
read the section about dress-code and it's ridiculous. They even
prescribe the colour of socks that men should wear! Having dealt with
Ugandan systems, including courts which should know better, I know that
until something directly affects you, you are not allowed to complain
about it. This far, these rules have not been implemented. Now that they
have, I am allowed to complain.
A
few years ago, 2014 to be specific, Parliament was debating a law that
was dubbed the 'mini-skirt Bill' for its apparent prohibition of
mini-skirts. As would be expected, the Bill caused an uproar among
opponents and proponents alike. On one side, there was anger about the
ridiculousness of the law along with its discriminatory and sexist
undertones; while on the other side there was excitement over the law's
presentation of fertile ground to ridicule and dehumanise women just for
the fun of it. Activists stood up against the law and some of these
provisions were removed. But the damage was done. Women had been
attacked. Women had been beaten. Women had been undressed. We were
livid.
But how can we be angry with boda boda men
attacking and undressing women for wearing short things when we have
institutions that we hold to higher levels of understanding and
responsibility fostering cultures that say women are only as appropriate
as men say they are? How can we, in good conscience, blame Minister
Kibuule for saying women that dress indecently should be raped when we
have an institution like LDC barring female students from class so the
male ones can concentrate? Our bodies have been so sexualised to points
of madness and like all cases of marginalisation, the victim pays the
price. Why should I miss my classes because men cannot control their
sexual urges (that is if they are as bad as they are portrayed)? How is
that my problem? Patriarchy has been so grossly institutionalised we all
feel the need to legislate and pass rules controlling women's bodies,
by among other things creating de facto dress codes for them.
I
Work hard, and I manage to pay the millions of shillings required for
LDC's tuition. But I can't access the campus to attend my classes
because when 'my brothers' look at my knees and legs, they will get
erections.
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