Those people touting 'decent' dressing are enabling the men stripping women
What you need to know:
- For the mere fact that she is a woman, her very existence is subject to daily harassment and oppression
- The fact that similarly wide discourse over what a man wears is not part of the “decency” debate indicates how utterly skewed this quest for decency is.
- After the abysmal failure to prosecute 4000 cases from the post-election period admitted to by the Director of Public Prosecutions , it is time that Mr Keriako Tobiko took initiative in leading investigations into several incidents of what are clearly deliberate crimes committed against women.
- It is offensive to all sensibilities to undress mothers and daughters, and in some communities, seeing your mother’s nakedness is considered a curse.
On November 17, 2014, hundreds of protesters led by the group Kilimani Mums held a demonstration outside the police headquarters at Vigilance House to demand that the police protect them from marauding vigilante gangs bent on attacking, beating, sexually assaulting and stripping women in Nairobi and Mombasa.
The protesters were met by “anti-miniskirt” protesters, some of whom threatened and abused them, making it necessary for the men marching in the protest to form a protective cordon around the women.
In that instance, it was made obvious that exacting violence on women based on their clothing was not only considered acceptable but also an act that society deems necessary for the sake of “decency”.
As if to underscore this, a woman was beaten and stripped in the Kayole area of Nairobi that very same evening.
The ongoing argument over how women dress is not only irrational and completely immoral, but also an example of how male sadists pervert justice and use violence to exert dominance over women.
For the mere fact that she is a woman, her very existence is subject to daily harassment and oppression, to the point that absolute strangers can domineer and decide how she should dress and act, and how her civil rights should be infringed upon constantly.
There is no possible justification for abusing, verbally insulting, attacking or violently stripping anyone, simply because you don’t like their clothes.
The very notion of such violence being acceptable is not only offensive to any right-thinking citizen, but also unnatural, abhorrent and morally reprehensible.
The fact that similarly wide discourse over what a man wears is not part of the “decency” debate indicates how utterly skewed this quest for decency is.
Considering that there is no national dress, no nationally agreed upon code or manner of dressing for all Kenyans what is "decent" is left to these vigilante groups to decide.
PROSECUTE WITHOUT WAITING
Since the stripping incidents began, there have been three videos recording the savage, violent assaults.
That a person can choose to record such barbarism as it happens could point to just how organised these vigilante groups are in targeting, robbing, beating, sexually assaulting and stripping women.
For the sake of the police, it is at this point that I note that it is quite possible to track the origins of videos taken from phones because each phone that logs online has an IP address.
Thus if one were keen to identify and arrest these culprits, those videos would certainly be a good place to start.
Most importantly, it’s about time the police investigated this matter and took the initiative to prosecute without waiting for victims to come forward.
As is the history in Kenya, the weight of seeking justice for criminal offenses is placed upon the victim by authorities. The absence of a commitment from the police service in serving and protecting the public is no secret.
Earlier this year, this same dysfunctional police service was enjoined alongside IPOA and four government ministries when eight survivors of the 2007/08 post-election violence filed a Public Interest Litigation petition 122/2013.
ABYSMAL FAILURE
In that suit, police were cited for failing to protect these survivors, failing to investigate sexual and gender-based crimes during the PEV period and failing to prosecute perpetrators.
Because of impunity aided by an inactive and complicit police service it is becoming clear that the attitudes displayed by the vigilantes is not only passively ignored, but actively encouraged, because at the end of the day, the victim will be expected to produce evidence of her assault.
After the abysmal failure to prosecute 4,000 cases from the post-election period admitted to by the Director of Public Prosecutions, it is time that Mr Keriako Tobiko took initiative in leading investigations into several incidents of what are clearly deliberate crimes committed against women.
As for the arguments on decency, there is a clause within the Penal Code that covers “indecent exposure”. By stripping women who they claim look indecent, not only are these thugs committing a violent criminal act, they are also breaking existing laws on public decency.
NAKEDNESS 'A CURSE'
The irony of such activity is underscored by the illogical arguments being made over hemlines.
Being verbally abusive, physically violent and targeting only women in the name of decency is neither African nor cultural.
It is not a cultural thing to abuse strangers on the street, and strip them naked. That is just barbarism.
It is offensive to all sensibilities to undress mothers and daughters, and in some communities, seeing your mother’s nakedness is considered a curse.
We have twisted our minds to become the very antithesis of what our forefathers were, abusing female bodies and infringing on their modesty.
We cannot live in a society where half the population is afraid to walk in the streets because we applaud and agree with perverted criminal gangs as they rob, beat, sexually assault and strip women.
Twitter: @bettywaitherero
