A proposed law that would let Cambodian police fine people deemed to be dressed inappropriately could be used to curtail women’s freedoms and reinforce a culture of impunity around sexual violence, rights campaigners say.
The draft legislation, which will take effect next year if approved by several government ministries and the national assembly, would ban men from going out shirtless and stop women from wearing anything “too short” or “too see-through”.
While billed by the government as a way to preserve national traditions, critics fear the law will be used as a tool to control and oppress women in the socially conservative country.
