Francistown #Iwearwhatiwant Flops
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday June 12, 2017 18:00
The protest started off early in the morning at the Francistown old airport entrance and ended at Old Magistrate Court open space. The march followed the Gaborone protest which took place weeks back and attracted hordes of women whom were furious about the incident which took place at the Gaborone bus rank. The incident involved a young woman who was catcalled and stripped by men at the Gaborone bus rank.
Moreover, the much-attended march stirred mixed emotions in the social media as some people were against the dress code which was worn by other protesters.
Some of the individuals described the dress code as unethical and an embarrassment to the women folk.
Such controversy could have driven some of the women here to be afraid and chicken out in expressing their interests and feelings by wearing what they want.
The few who attended the march came dressed in jeans and tights which cover the lower part of the body and only a few were wearing shorts, tattered jeans and mini dresses. The cold weather, which was around four degrees Celsius in the morning, could also have contributed to the low turn-out. When giving the objectives of the march, a representative from #iwearwhatiwant, Mbakisani Tjiyapo said the purpose of the campaign was to sensitise people about gender-based violence in particular to the incident that took place at the Gaborone bus rank.
She said they condemned the incident where a mob of men harassed a young woman in public. She said the behaviour is intolerable, unfair and it is also a violation of personal rights. Tjiyapo stated that every woman has the right to wear what they want and urged them to stay courageous and express their feelings at all times.
“In summer we want to wear what we want. We want to feel free and put on those shorts and crop tops if we feel so without being harassed by anyone,” she said.
She disclosed that the victim is currently receiving counselling and rehabilitation at the women’s shelter in Gaborone.
She indicated that they are going to make the campaign an annul event so as to advocate against gender based violence.
Tjiyapo urged women to unite and protect each other during such scenarios so that their voice can be heard as one.
When giving the keynote address, Magistrate Ishmael Molobe said everyone has the right to express their feelings through different ways such as the way they talk, attitude and how they dress.
He said no one has the right to dictate to others on how they should appear either in private or open space because people are different. “If you are a man and you are going out, you should be prepared to meet different individuals. You should therefore make sure that your feelings are in place and if you feel like you are going to go around judging people, you should just stay home so that you do not end up doing something selfish,” he said.
Molobe said there is no one with the blueprint of the appropriate dress code and no one has been empowered to carry a ruler which measures different dress length that are acceptable in the society. According to Molobe, people who misbehave should not just be blamed, shamed or ostracised, but they should be taught good conducts because they really need to be helped in order to learn how to appreciate woman. For her part, the founder of #iwearwhatiwant’s Sesame Nakedi said the campaign was initiated in order to stop gender-based violence against women.
She said in most cases the majority of women are being abused either emotionally, sexually, physically across every aspect of life. She added that some women are being judged on their appearance, body types, posture and the way they look which have affected their self confidence and esteem. Nakedi said women are no longer free to express their feelings and interests because they are being criticised in everything that they do. “Women are always victims of being harassed because of their choice of clothes but never in my life had I witnessed a man being mistreated because of their clothing,” she said.
She said women are not allowed to wear what they want because some men find it unethical and violates culture.
She indicated that in the olden days women used to wear makgabe (loin cloth for girls) and it was acceptable in the society, and why cannot mini-dresses be encouraged also because they do not cause any damage to their livelihood? One of the attendants, Tapudzani Matebu, said she advocates for women to be free, especially as a mother of two daughters. There is a need for such to be done in order to protect her teenage girls.
She said that she wants her children to dress the way they want in public without any fear because they choose to wear their clothing because they like it.
Matebu said modern fashion trends contribute to what they buy and if the clothes are not suitable for their tradition, they should therefore be banned so that women do not have access to such.