Cambodian women post swimwear photos to protest law on how they dress

Cambodian women post swimwear photos to protest law on how they dress - Reuters

Posted: 06 Aug 2020 06:40 AM PDT

PHNOM PENH (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Cambodian women have rallied on social media to condemn a proposed law governing the way people dress in public, including by posting images of themselves in swimwear and skimpy outfits, with a petition also set up to block the move.

Billed as necessary to preserve Cambodian tradition, the law would prohibit women from wearing anything deemed "too short" or "too see-through" and has drawn criticism for being vague and encouraging a culture of victim blaming.

The draft legislation, which will take effect next year if approved by several government ministries and the national assembly, would also ban men from going out shirtless in the socially conservative Southeast Asian country.

"Congrats, we're going back to 1960s," artist Lisa Mam posted on Facebook.

Painters, filmmakers, writers and musicians were among those criticising the law, with some questioning the role of the ministry for women's affairs as restrictions on women's appearance increase.

Multiple spokespeople from the ministry declined to comment or did not respond to requests.

In recent years, actresses and singers have been increasingly targeted by the government over their attire, with some facing bans on performing.

There was a public outcry when a woman was jailed for six months in April on pornography and indecent exposure charges for wearing "provocative" outfits while selling clothes over Facebook live stream.

But news of the proposed law has taken the discussion to a new level, said Eng Chandy, a programme manager at the Gender and Development for Cambodia charity.

"It is rare for a draft law to be shared like this, giving us the chance to discuss it as a society," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"The reaction on social media is very positive: people from all parts of society are talking about gender equality."

An online petition condemning the proposed law had almost 14,000 signatures as of Thursday, to the surprise of its author, recent high school graduate Tan Molika.

"Originally, I had no plans with the petition other than to raise awareness," Molika said.

"Turns out that everyone is so against it to the point where I've gotten a few requests for me to submit the petition to the government."

Women rights groups fear the new law could put women at further risk of sexual harassment and violence by fostering a culture of victim-blaming.

Many Cambodians still expect women to be submissive and quiet, a legacy of the Chbap Srey - an oppressive centuries-old code of conduct for women that the United Nations said last year should be "fully eliminated" from schools.

In a 2019 review of Cambodia, the U.N. highlighted "social norms that justify gender-based violence ... and blame the victim rather than the perpetrator".

Reporting by Matt Blomberg, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org

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Two Augusta County women quit job after being told to remove patriotic masks - WDBJ7

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 02:32 PM PDT

AUGUSTA COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) — Two Augusta County women decided to quit their jobs at a Food Lion in Augusta County after being told to change their face masks that they considered to be patriotic.

"We were raised where you stand for the flag and respect it and everything that comes with it because we have people fighting for it everyday," Haili Halterman said.

Halterman worked for the grocery store chain in the Valley.

The chain requires all employees to wear a mask while working.

"We could wear whatever we wanted as long as it didn't have nasty words or pictures on it," Halterman said.

But Halterman claims that story changed a few weeks ago.

She said she came to work wearing a mask with stars and stripes that was red, white and blue.

Store managers allegedly told her the mask was considered offensive and against policy.

"They said you can either change your mask or go home, and I said well it looks like I'm going home because I'm not taking my mask off," Halterman said. "I told them I would wear a different one another shift."

Halterman said she was not shown any paperwork or written rules about the policy and decided she would resign.

"For me, it was heartbreaking, and I couldn't stay in a company that would consider the flag offensive when it's what gives every American their rights," Halterman said.

Halterman was not the only employee who had an experience like this.

Olivia Bower said she also resigned after being told she could not wear a mask that depicted a black and white flag with the words, "America Strong" on it.

"Me and Haili are the voices that some people need to hear to stand up for what you believe in, and that it's OK to receive negative because you know the good that you've done," Bower said.

According to flag code, it is considered disrespectful to wear the flag itself as an article of clothing.

A local historian said these two masks don't fall into that category.

"It's kind of show of patriotism that we're excited about and support our country through hard times and good times and just sort of the vision of what America could be," Nancy Sorrells, President of the Augusta County Historic Society said.

Sorrells also said the American flag is not something that should be politicized.

"It's a symbol of unity and celebration of our neighbors in our community and our history and how we're always striving for a vision of a 'more perfect union,'" Sorrells said. "I don't think we're there yet, but I think we've made a lot of strides."

Both of the girls said they loved their job and enjoyed working there, but they felt they couldn't go against their morals.

WHSV did reach out to Food Lion for comment regarding their dress code and mask policy and the following was their response via email:

"We are committed to taking every precaution possible to protect the health and well-being of our associates and customers. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the health and well-being of our communities, all associates have to wear face coverings. Associates can wear masks or face shields provided by Food Lion or they can choose homemade face coverings. All face coverings must adhere to standards set in our dress code policy.

Communications about our mask and dress code policy were shared with all Food Lion associates in late May.

There are a number of policies that guide Food Lion associate attire and conduct in the workplace, including our dress code and solicitation policies, among others. We do not provide our policies or internal communications to non Food-Lion employees."