A member of parliament in
Swaziland / eSwatini called on the Ministry of Home Affairs to speak out
against women who wear ‘skimpy clothes’ to church. He said they sometimes
disturbed pastors when they preached the Word of God.
Vulimpompi Nhleko, the MP
for Nkwene, in the conservative kingdom ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati
III, said the women would sexually arouse males in churches.
He was speaking during a
debate in the House of Assembly. The Swazi Observer reported, ‘He
said some women were commended for having beautiful bodies and then decide to
show off those bodies, which would then cause mayhem in the church. Nhleko
urged the home affairs ministry to guard against that.’
The newspaper added, ‘The
ladies’ tendencies, according to MP Nhleko, would sometimes disturb pastors when
they preached the Word of God.’
The Observer
reported, ‘Minister of Home Affairs Princess Lindiwe stated that it was
important for people to wear decently in churches.’
Women across Swaziland
constantly face verbal and physical attacks over the clothes they wear. In late
2012 Swaziland Police announced that
women found wearing a mini-skirt in public would be arrested and
face a fine or imprisonment. Swazi Police official spokesperson Wendy Hleta
told the Times Sunday newspaper that it
would only take one complaint for a woman in a mini-skirt to be arrested. She
said police would use a law dating from 1889.
She was commenting after
police stopped a march by women protesting at the harassment they received from
men when they wore mini-skirts or other clothes such as low-cut jeans or crop
tops that displayed their stomachs. The men wanted them to wear clothes they considered
more appropriate to Swazi tradition.
In the course of the
interview Hleta said that men might be tempted to rape women who wore skimpy
clothes.
By coincidence around the
same date the Times of Swaziland
published a letter from a woman who recounted a trip she and her female friend
made to Manzini police station to report a crime. She was wearing a miniskirt
and her friend shorts.
She said five male officers
verbally attacked them. Among the comments made by the police officers were,
‘You b******, go and get dressed or remove yourselves from our presence.
‘Can’t you hear that we are
telling you to go and dress appropriately first? Or have you come to solicit
here? This is not a prostitution site.’ And , ‘Go before we do you harm.’
In a separate case, at the national election in 2013
Mana Mavimbela, aged 18, drew international attention when she tried to have
herself nominated to stand in the primary election for the House of Assembly.
The official presiding officer, employed by the Elections and Boundaries
Commission, refused to allow her to do so because she
was dressed in jeans.
Mavimbela was not the only woman discriminated against
at the nominations because she was wearing pants. Fakazile Luhlanga of
Ndvwabangeni in the Mhlangatane constituency was also
not allowed permission to nominate a candidate as she was wearing cargo
pants.
Local
media reported Luhlanga saying she was told that she was dressed like a man
and would be a bad influence to the community members as they would want to
emulate her.
Some chiefs
across Swaziland imposed a ban on women wearing trousers, shorts or
mini-skirts at nomination centres. Chief Petros Dvuba of Mpolonjeni in
Mbabane, the kingdom’s capital, said
people who would be going to the nominations should dress properly and show
respect as it was King Mswati’s exercise.
He told local media, ‘Even those who have relaxed hair should cover
their heads when going to that place.’
In a separate incident away from the election,
Nhlonipho Nkamane Mkhatswa, chief of Lwandle in Manzini,
the main commercial city in Swaziland, reportedly
stripped a woman of her clothing in the middle of a street in full view of
the public because she was wearing trousers.
Also, three women in Dvokolwako in Swaziland were
summoned by ‘traditional authorities’ for wearing trousers after elders in the
area had banned them. One woman said someone reported her after she was spotted
wearing jeans as she was walking to the shops. Another woman was said to be
wearing pants at her home when she was charged.
See also
Woman
in pants banned from election
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/08/woman-in-pants-banned-from-election.html
Chief makes woman in pants strip
Chief makes woman in pants strip
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