Ugandan female student, Joaninne Nanyange, took to Facebook to rant
about how she was stopped at the entrance to her faculty on Wednesday by
two women for ‘indecent dressing’. She says the uniformed woman asked
her to pull her skirt (pictured above) down as far as it would go.
“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 coulour 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.
Please let us live. Allow us to prosper. This nonsense needs to end,” she wrote.