Men of Nairobi, you have no right to strip women naked

A woman was stripped naked in the middle of central Nairobi on Tuesday, down to her birthday suit, right behind the National Archives at the stop for the Embassava buses.

Her "sin" was as old as time; apparently, she was dressed so scantily that some men felt the need to teach her a lesson in propriety.

The whole thing was videotaped and put up on YouTube, like a music video trying to get more views.

The man who taped it made sure he got all her lady parts in the video, because those are the parts he was interested in. He was not interested in stopping this public humiliation.

READ: Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of dress

The video has since been taken down. If this is not a sign of how lewd and outrageous the whole thing was, I don’t know what is.

KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR?

The reactions of the men around were very different. One was taping the debacle. Another tried to stop the men.

He was stopped by the men himself. He repeatedly made an attempt to make them stop, but he was pushed away several times.

These men stripped a woman of her dignity. Whether she cared about her dignity or not is not the issue here. The point here is that no one has a right to do that to another human being.

Kenyans have a tendency to support this type of behaviour, though it had died down in the last couple of years. Apparently, we are back to square one.

MORAL FLAGELLATION

There are several problems with this particular kind of public moral flagellation.

First of all, let me make it clear, because we still live in a day and age when men feel entitled to women’s bodies and thus feel the need to teach them lessons: it doesn’t matter what she was wearing.

It doesn’t matter if she was walking naked.

It doesn’t matter how she looked on a daily basis and how inflamed or incensed the touts were by her thighs — nothing this woman did was an invitation for being stripped in town.

This, of course, also applies to rape. Unless a woman in her sober mind has specifically told you that you have permission, you don’t.

Not only do you not have permission for entry, you also don’t have permission to condemn, or teach lessons, which is the first step on the path to idiocies like corrective rape.

QUOTING THE BIBLE

It has nothing to do with you.

I have been reading some of the comments on social media. Some people are tickled. Some Neanderthals think she deserved it.

Bible thumpers, of course, are out in full force, talking about how the body is a temple and you should not be displaying it like that.

This is silly. Everyone is a sinner, and if we are going to strip them all, then we should start with politicians. Strip them down and see how you like their gorged bellies.

Sin does not automatically mean public punishment. Let God deal with his realm and you can deal with your matatu.

MEN ARE NEVER STRIPPED

My friend Meshack Yobby stated it best:

I'll tell you why I have no time for you.

You are a pervert. Men don't strip a woman naked in the streets because she is indecent. They strip her because they want to see her nakedness.

It is not because of morals. Those same men are not saints. They are probably cheating on their women. They have their sins.

They are cowards who rely on the cheering of other perverts to get the courage to rip a woman's clothes off.

No, it is not about decency. Men walk the same streets in tight trousers that outline their manhood. Men sag trousers till their butt-cracks are seen. They are never stripped.

It is perversion.

It is looking at women as sex objects.

It is sexual assault.

It is the lowest form of scum (read his post here).

Being stripped in the middle of town is not funny. If it happened to you, it would not be funny. No one deserves that.

Twitter: @AbigailArunga