Delta Community Imposes 40 Strokes, N10,000 Fine On Indecent Dressing
- Cautions culprits to change their ways
Determined to rid its community of what many have described as modern-day “Sodom and Gomorrah” practices, the Ubeji Youth and Employment Development Association (UYEDA) in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State has imposed 40 strokes of the cane as punishment for any girl or woman found dressing indecently in the area.
However, in consideration of a chance at redemption, the Community also introduced an option of N10,000 fine against any offender to serve as a deterrent against any such “deliberate act of exposing sensitive parts of one’s body” to the public.
Addressing journalists on the Association’s reasons for taking such drastic measures, UYEDA’s Secretary General, Stanley Bomele said the steps became necessary due to the provocative and maddening ways ladies dressed in the community nowadays.
He said the youths are embarking on an operation tagged; “War Against Indecent Dressing,” among young ladies and even men, in the area, adding that currently there is an existing ban on the wearing of miniskirts, bum shorts, or tight (bikers shorts) by women within the Community.
Blaming indecent dressing as the major cause of assaults and sexual harassment within the community, Bomele warned that such provocative outfits would no longer be tolerated by the people.
According to him, it is quite regrettable that most of the girls have gone haywire in the name of so-called fashion with some of them going about almost naked in many instances.
He further said the unfortunate development was irritating and does not tell well of the community, stressing the operation would continue till their young girls learn how to dress decently and properly.
The Association’s Scribe warned that the Community would no longer condone deliberate acts of publicly exposing one’s body contrary to acceptable societal norms and values.
Among many other definitions, indecent dressing is considered “an attitude of someone, male or female, that dresses to show off parts of the body such as the breasts, buttocks or even the underwear particularly those of the ladies that need to be covered.”
In Nigeria, Section 26 of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act addresses indecent exposure as “exposure of genitals with intent to cause distress, or induce to commit an act of violence and induce another to massage or touch for perpetrator’s sexual enjoyment attracts the punishment of one year sentence or a fine of N500,000”.
