Source: The Citizen
Slightly more than a week ago, some street vendors in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, suffered what appeared to be a bout of collective madness.

Riding on the back of tensions over a proposed move from the streets to specific trading zones, they stripped women passersby wearing trousers, leggings, shorts and short dresses. The assaults soon spread to Blantyre and Mzuzu.

Women have now reportedly taken to wearing "long and conservative" skirts and dresses whenever they are out in public despite a groundswell of anger against such uncouth conduct. Every constitution worth its name guarantees all its citizens rights that cannot be rolled back by the bullies among us.

Some members of the rowdy gangs put the January 17 attacks down to a supposed order from President Bingu Mutharika to "clean the streets of women dressed inappropriately". But the president was one of their earliest critics, even wondering how trousers could be an issue when it is standard gear for female members of the armed forces.

When news of the Lilongwe assaults first broke, I had to pinch myself to confirm that I had not stumbled into a time warp. This kind of thing is so 1960s and 1970s, when unreconstructed men ruled the roost with no regrets and no apology.

Total strangers took it upon themselves then to not only judge women's dress but also mete out instant "justice" in many African capitals--and they got away with it. Women were seen as common property that could be manhandled by anyone at any time. The tragedy is that the more things change the more they remain the same.

Women's attire has been the subject of obsessive debate even at times when there were other pressing problems in Africa such as human rights abuses, corruption, non-existent roads, nepotism, leaders who thought they were God's gift to their countries, and massive numbers of people living below the poverty line.

If there have been reports of people being contaminated and killed by having come into contact with a woman dressed "inappropriately", I have not heard of them.The offending dress could be just an inch or two above the knee.

That is all it takes for a total stranger to take it upon himself to "discipline" you. As for today's low-lying trousers designed to show butt cracks and clingy tops that show off every asset, let's just put it this way: Some things are best left well alone.

If there's a rational explanation for the kind of mental shutdown that hit Lilongwe's streets, it is not immediately apparent. At a time when the democratic space is opening up even in the most conservative societies across Africa and the Arab world, Malawi's women have just been violated by common thugs who belong behind bars.

You would think that the ruinous Kamuzu Banda dictatorship was enough to last a lifetime. The ban on women wearing trousers was lifted in 1998 but some crooks appear hell-bent on bringing it back through the back door.

There is a simple solution to this pseudo-morality: If you don't like what women wear, look the other way. If you like what you see, ask nicely.When confronted with young men wearing those trousers so popular these days--the ones that leave you wondering how they manage to stay up--women carefully look the other way and hurry past.

They slow down or cross the road when grown men who should know better choose to pee on the roadside in broad daylight.It would appear that the bogus purists were having trouble with street sales after the authorities got on their case. Rules and regulations can be a pain in the backside, but why make women the butt of their frustration when they are often not even at the centre of power in the first place?

The Malawi story ends on a high note, mercifully. In the days following the attacks, the strippers were roundly condemned--all the way from State House to the streets and even on holy ground. Fifteen suspects are reportedly up against the law in Lilongwe and the drums of war were being beaten by clergymen at rallies and women's rights organisations.

According to the police public relations officer for the central region, the suspects will be charged with theft and breach of the peace--and the police will be going all out for jail terms rather than fines. In the meantime, police are out in the streets in full force providing security for women. The question is: For how long?

• Malawi