Along with gays, Uganda bans the miniskirt
This post appeared in . The views expressed are the author's own.听
Uganda鈥檚 President Yoweri听Museveni on Feb. 24 signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act. On the same day, he approved another law that received far less international attention: the听. The bulk of the this act lays out terms for regulating the producers and promoters of pornographic material, but听听has picked up on the act鈥檚 definition of 鈥減ornography鈥� 鈥� a definition that includes vague references to 鈥渋ndecent show鈥� and, 鈥渞epresentation of the sexual parts of a person for primarily sexual excitement.鈥�
Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo announced that the act prohibits certain forms of women鈥檚 dress,听. This interpretation garnered the act the shorthand nomenclature as the 鈥渕iniskirt ban.鈥�
At face value, one might see nothing wrong with sartorial regulation that reflects popular ideas about morality. Uganda is听.听However, in order to understand the consequences of this law, one must first note the condition of Uganda鈥檚 police force and judicial apparatus. Prosecution of crimes according to the application of legal principles and procedures is, one might say, inconsistent. It is hard to imagine that the Anti-Pornography Act (and the Anti-Homosexuality Act) will usher in an era of formal arrests and evidence-based trials.
What they will do -- what they have already done -- is听听against women and anyone suspected of 鈥渉omosexuality.鈥�
The day after the Anti-Pornography Act was signed into law, Ugandan newspapers began issuing reports of women being publicly stripped -- a powerful shaming gesture -- by mobs of men claiming to 鈥溾�� the police. These attacks were carried out in rural villages and urban centers alike, prompting a听听on the grounds of Kampala鈥檚 National Theatre, in which women carried signs beseeching, 鈥済ive us maternal healthcare, don鈥檛 undress us in the street.鈥�
I was in a hair salon in Uganda recently when talk turned to this protest, and the law in general. Women spoke of plans to purchase pepper spray and otherwise prepare for the possibility of assault, in a country where violence against women is already听.
One woman wondered, half-jokingly, if she should stop dressing her young daughter in short pants. Does the law apply to children? What should we wear to swim? What about pajamas inside one鈥檚 own house? Women tossed around a number of questions that the law does not address.
The vagueness of the law suggests that it is not intended as a comprehensive statement about Uganda鈥檚 moral compass. Rather, Museveni鈥檚 actions this week serve as a distraction, a bone thrown to a public听.
In other words, the Anti-Pornography Act, together with the Anti-Homosexuality Act, placates a public desperate for any sign of leadership from their president. It is a shame that this sign empowers vigilantes by codifying discrimination against already vulnerable groups.
Brooke Bocast is a听PhD candidate in anthropology at Temple University and a visiting predoctoral fellow at Northwestern University.听
