And, it will only take one complaint for a woman to be
arrested and put behind bars, they say.
Police say men do not like to see women dressed in skimpy
clothes in public.
Newspapers in the kingdom have been running stories and
letters from readers recently with accounts of how some women have been harassed
by men because they wear pants, rather than skirts.
Some women have also been attacked for wearing skimpy clothes
deemed unsuitable by men. In all these cases, those supporting the harassment of
women have cited Swazi ‘traditional values’ as justification.
Police recently halted a protest march by women who wore mini-skirts
to draw attention to the harassment they face.
Now, a local newspaper has quoted the Swaziland Police official
spokesperson Wendy Hleta saying mini-skirts are deemed to be indecent, immoral
and have an element of nudity.
Hleta told the Times Sunday the Crimes Act of 1889
outlawed this type of clothing.
She said the law controls ‘immorality and offences in
public places or places of public resort and control of places of public
interest’.
The newspaper reported her saying it would only take one
person to lay a complaint with the police then they would not hesitate but put
the offender behind bars.
Hleta said the law has not been enforced recently, but
since men in the city of Manzini, especially at the bus rank, said they were
not happy with mini-skirts police were warning women of the existence of the
law.
Offenders can be fined up to E100 (US$10) or face up to six
months in jail if they cannot pay the fine.
Hleta said the law excluded exposure of the body due to
breast feeding and wearing cultural regalia.
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