/ 6 August 1999

ROW OVER MALAWI ‘VALLEYS’

A ROW erupted in Malawi on Thursday after a male legislator remarked in parliament that women walk the streets half naked and “show their contours and valleys”. One of several female members of parliament who objected, Alice Sumani, said the remark by Joseph Njobvuyalema is sexist, adding that “when anyone is talking about women, he should include his wife and daughters.” Njobvuyalema said women are abusing the freedom of dress granted to them when a decades-old law barring women from wearing slacks, shorts or miniskirts was repealed in 1993. The law was introduced by former dictator Kamuzu Banda and included a ban on men wearing bell-bottom trousers and long hair.