What Not to Wear: Women's Clothing and Women's Rights

This summer Lubna Hossein made world headlines by wearing pants in Sudan. She got into lots of trouble—Hussein was arrested and jailed--along with 12 other women who were given the punishment of 10 lashes and a fine.

A few weeks earlier, French President Nicholas Sarkozy said women should not wear burqas. 

Sarkozy also got into lots of trouble for suggesting the state would interfere in women’s clothing.

Does it really matter what women wear?  To test the idea, look at the pictures from different cultures and read about their rights.

Sudan

• Parental authority is granted only to fathers—custody reverts to fathers when sons reach 6 and girls reach eight.
• No laws prohibit domestic violence.
• About 90 per cent of female have undergone FGM in its most severe form (that is, infibulation)
• Women are not allowed ownership or access to land or bank loans; access to all forms of credit is reserved only for men.
• Recent laws require that women stand separately on the back of bus and that women and men form separate lines at public offices.
• The government enforces the wearing of veils for all women—even non muslims.

SAUDI ARABIA

• Women can’t vote—nor can they drive, or ride a bike or motorcycle. 
• They cannot give testimony in court.
• Children belong to their father legally.
• Saudi women must wear the abaya and niqab in public. The law also states they can expose one or both eyes in necessity, their clothes should not be bright or adorned.

Afghanistan

• Nearly 57 per cent of Afghani girls are married before age 16 according to Human Rights Watch.
• Polygamy is allowed  - but there is a limit of four wives.
• Men are the guardians of their children and in the case of divorce, fathers are given physical custody of the children.
• Women who report being raped are often imprisoned.

Orthodox Jewish Women

In synagogues, women are separated by a curtain or low wall.
Women cannot become Rabbis lead prayer services or bless the Torah.

Women must be abstinent during and after their periods, when they are required to take a mikvah or ritual bath.

Somalia

• Women must wear the veil according to sharia law.
• Polygamy is permitted
• Men have sole parental authority.  Divorced women can keep custody of boys until age 10 and girls until age 15.
• Daughters inherit half what sons receive.
• No laws prohibit domestic violence. 
• Female genital mutilation (FGM) is almost universal in Somalia and infibulation, the most dangerous form of FGM, is still practised, despite legislation forbidding it.
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• Married women become the property of their husband and his tribe, although she keeps a few ownership rights relating to her family and tribe of origin.
• Women not allowed to own land which owned by family and is passed from father to son.

FLDS

• Polygamy or plural marriage is encouraged.
• Underage girls are routinely married to grown men.
• Women do not own property, but most land and houses are owned by the church.

SOURCES:

most of the the info is from The Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) which is a new composite measure of gender discrimination based on social institutions. It measures gender inequality in five areas: Family Code, Physical Integrity, Son Preference, Civil Liberties and Ownership Rights in 102 non-OECD countries http://genderindex.org/


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