Public indecency: need to find a common definition
WHEN a woman poses naked glossy magazine, it’s called art.
Boity Thulo once graced the front page of a prestigious magazine wearing nothing. She was admired for her beautiful body and nice behind.
The magazine made good sales that month. But, interestingly, when a female stages a nude protest in public, it’s called public indecency.
Last week, Gugu Ncube staged a one-woman protest at Parliament in Pretoria, semi-naked, to register her labour plight with Unisa. She wanted to get the attention of the president.
According to Ncube, she was sexually harassed by her boss at Unisa. She reported the matter to the relevant authorities but nothing was done about it. She even escalated the issue to the university’s vice-chancellor, but still nothing was done. Instead, she was axed.
The one-woman protest not get the attention of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Instead, she got the attention of police, who arrested her for public indecency. She was unarmed, but more than 10 police officers apprehended her. What danger did she pose?
Last year, Ramaphosa took time from his busy schedule to listen to the heartbreaking stories of abused women.
The event was held somewhere in Pretoria. One woman (who is serving time in jail for murdering her intimate partner for abusing her) stripped naked in front of the president – and in front of the cameras. No one said it was public indecency.
The curious question is: When is stripping naked in public indecent? And who decides on that?
It doesn’t look like there is a common definition of public indecency. So, everyone interprets it the way he or she sees it. But I think we need a common definition. THABILE MANGE | Kagiso