Anti-pornography law: Police warns against undressing women
Ms Judith Nabakooba, the police spokesperson, has warned that people who
undress skimpily-dressed women will be arrested. Monitor photo
By PAUL TAJUBA
Posted Tuesday, February 25 2014 at 02:00
Posted Tuesday, February 25 2014 at 02:00
In Summary
No mob justice. Following the recent
Anti-Pornography law,police have warned the public against undressing
women perceived to be dressed indecently as has been going on lately.Kampala- Police have warned the
public against undressing women whom they perceive to be indecently
dressed saying the Anti-Pornography law is not operational yet.
In a statement issued by the police spokesperson,
Ms Judith Nabakooba, yesterday she warned: “If you suspect that the
person is indecently dressed, you report to Police but not take the law
into your own hands. If you participate in mob justice of undressing
people and are caught, you will be dealt with accordingly.”
In several parts of Kampala especially taxi parks,
there have been several incidents of skimpily dressed women being
undressed ever since the State minister for Ethics and Integrity, the
Rev Simon Lokodo, announced that President Museveni had assented to the
bill.
The law prescribes various penalties for publishers, broadcasters, internet café operators who promote pornography.
Ms Nabakooba warned that even when the law is
operational; it will not give the public authority to undress indecently
dressed people. She said for the law to be implemented, there are
procedures and guidelines that have to be fulfilled first.
“There are bodies and committees that have to be put in place before the law becomes effective and they have not been put in place,” she said.
“There are bodies and committees that have to be put in place before the law becomes effective and they have not been put in place,” she said.
She added: “The law creates a national
anti-pornography committee responsible for its implementation by
ensuring early detection, collection and destroying of pornographic
materials.”
According to Ms Nabakooba, the committee members
will be drawn from different stakeholders like the media and
entertainment industries, and also create rehabilitation services to
victims of pornography.
The Penal Code under section 128 criminalises undressing people as it is tantamount to indecent assaults.
While addressing journalists in Kampala on
February 6, Fr Lokodo said, people who dress skimpily may fall prey to
the legislation.
“If your miniskirt falls within the ambit of this definition then I am afraid you will be caught up by the law,” the minister said.
Days
after signing the Anti-Pornography Act 2014 into law, The Observer has
noted a change in the revellers’ dress codes in the city.
“If your miniskirt falls within the ambit of this definition then I am afraid you will be caught up by the law,” the minister said.
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30321:-caution-confusion-greet-miniskirt-law&catid=34:news&Itemid=114
Sunday, 23 February 2014 22:27
The new law doesn't mention miniskirts even once
A trip around town on Friday night showed that women’s hemlines had
dropped towards the knees. At YMCA, which attracts lots of women for the
Friday Night Lights, most women played safe with jeans.
“If you are dressed in something that
irritates the mind and excites other people especially of the opposite
sex, you are dressed in wrong attire and please hurry up and change,”
Lokodo was quoted as having told journalists at the Uganda Media Centre.
Sandra Mbabazi says she has been putting
on short skirts almost all her life, but on this occasion at the
Serena, she was wearing a skirt, just above the knees. Her plan was to
be cautious during the day but wear her mini at night.
“One can’t put on something long for
club. They make you look like a nun. Some people have got good legs, how
will they show them off’?” she asked rhetorically, before adding, “I
can’t even put on a pair of pants. It has to be a miniskirt.”
For writer Mildred Apenyo, the new law will not change her dress code.
“How I dress, what I watch and read is my business. That will not change until I decide that it changes,” she said.
“We have rape all over the place,
molestation is as common as pimples and yet instead of our
anti-pornography law putting strict penalties in place against street
molesters they are there eyeing hemlines.”
But others were more cautious,
especially after the Friday incident, where a woman at Kisekka market
was literally stripped naked, for wearing a skirt that the mob
considered too exciting. Indeed, finding a miniskirt-clad woman during
the day proved a hard task on Saturday.
However, The Observer has established that the new law has nothing to do with the length or shortness of women’s dresses.
Although the initial draft bill sought
to restrict women’s dress freedoms, the law that was ultimately passed
targets media organisations that show what is deemed to be pornographic
material.
And this includes images “of a person
engaged in real or [simulated] explicit sexual activities or any
representation of the sexual parts of a person for primary sexual
excitement.”
The apparent misreading of the law could
be blamed on Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo. He suggested on February 18
the law would ultimately help fight indecent dressing.
