The Religious Ban on Tight Clothes

Imagine this. Let¡¯s say hip and stylish young Korean adults decided to walk the streets of Indonesia. Although most of the readers may not think too much of such a scene, it would be something extremely explicit for Indonesians.

Call it old fashioned or outdated with the latest trends, but in the devoutly Islamic district of Indonesia¡¯s Aceh province, the sale of tight dresses or clothes in general have been banned for Muslim women. As matter of fact recently the provincial government has distributed 20,000 long skirts and prohibited all shops from selling such clothes.

As ridiculous as the situation may seem, the Islamic police are carefully watching the community to catch any woman who violates the clothing code. A long skirt will be given to a Muslim woman who violates the dress code and the offending clothes will be confiscated. The penalty is to be held in police custody until receiving religious advice from Islamic preachers.

Various women¡¯s rights groups are launching raids to demand their freedom. Sadly any woman dressed in simple jeans is being treated like a terrorist. While many Islamic women argue jeans are comfortable than the long rags that cover their legs, the religious province stated all Muslims must respect the dress code.

To spread the seriousness of the situation the provincial government stated that any shopkeepers caught violating restriction on selling short skirts and jeans to Muslims will have their business licenses revoked.

Indonesia is the world¡¯s most populous Muslim-majority nation. Approximately 200 million Muslims practice their faith. The recent regulation has been the latest effort to promote strict moral values.

So far, no specific punishment for violators has been set. However, local religious and political leaders uniformly agreed to impose moral sanctions. In response women¡¯s rights groups argued that the regulation completely violates international treaties and the Indonesian constitution.

The province of Aceh made headlines last year when its provincial parliament passed various laws which were extremely controversial. For instance adultery is punishable by stoning to death and imprisonment is given to homosexuals. Among other activities banned in the island nation are drinking alcohol, gambling and kissing in public.