KIGALI/NAIROBI — September 4, 2026 — A pan-African women's-rights network has called on Rwanda to stop policing women and girls over their clothing and repeal legal provisions it says allow subjective ideas of decency to be used against them.
The African Women's Development and Communication Network, widely known as FEMNET, issued a formal petition on Friday addressed to the Government of Rwanda.
Copies were directed to the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion and Rwanda National Police.
The September 4 petition demands an end to enforcement targeting women because of their clothing, appearance or perceived indecency. It also calls for legal reform, stronger investigations into alleged harassment and wider consultation with women's-rights groups.
The intervention moves Rwanda's recent dress-code controversy beyond social-media debate and individual police conduct into formal regional civil-society scrutiny.
FEMNET Demands Legal and Institutional Reform
FEMNET is a Nairobi-based membership network that advocates for women's rights across Africa. Its petition presents six broad demands to Rwandan authorities.
The organization wants the government to end practices that target, humiliate or harass women and girls because of their clothing or appearance.
It argues that women should not be denied entry to events, public spaces or services based on moral standards that are not clearly defined in law.
FEMNET also calls on Rwanda to repeal or amend provisions it believes criminalize women's bodies under the language of public decency. It says laws and policies should make clear that clothing never transfers responsibility for gender-based violence or harassment from perpetrators to victims.
HUMAN RIGHTS
FEMNET Urges Rwanda to Repeal ‘Indecency’ Rules
Sep 4, 2026
Sep 4, 2026
4 min read
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Updated:
KIGALI/NAIROBI — September 4, 2026 — A pan-African women's-rights network has called on Rwanda to stop policing women and girls over their clothing and repeal legal provisions it says allow subjective ideas of decency to be used against them.
The African Women's Development and Communication Network, widely known as FEMNET, issued a formal petition on Friday addressed to the Government of Rwanda.
Copies were directed to the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion and Rwanda National Police.
The September 4 petition demands an end to enforcement targeting women because of their clothing, appearance or perceived indecency. It also calls for legal reform, stronger investigations into alleged harassment and wider consultation with women's-rights groups.
The intervention moves Rwanda's recent dress-code controversy beyond social-media debate and individual police conduct into formal regional civil-society scrutiny.
FEMNET Demands Legal and Institutional Reform
FEMNET is a Nairobi-based membership network that advocates for women's rights across Africa. Its petition presents six broad demands to Rwandan authorities.
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The organization wants the government to end practices that target, humiliate or harass women and girls because of their clothing or appearance.
It argues that women should not be denied entry to events, public spaces or services based on moral standards that are not clearly defined in law.
FEMNET also calls on Rwanda to repeal or amend provisions it believes criminalize women's bodies under the language of public decency. It says laws and policies should make clear that clothing never transfers responsibility for gender-based violence or harassment from perpetrators to victims.
The petition further asks authorities to respond to reports of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, abuse and technology-facilitated harassment through accessible reporting systems and survivor-centred support.
It calls for accountability where security officers or other people are accused of abuse and asks the government to include feminist organizations, youth movements, survivors and affected communities in future law-reform discussions.
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Recent Incidents Triggered the Petition
The petition follows several incidents that placed women's clothing and police authority at the centre of a national debate.
On August 29, some women attending Tanzanian musician Diamond Platnumz's concert near BK Arena in Kigali were reportedly denied entry or told to cover themselves because security personnel considered their clothes inappropriate.
A separate controversy emerged in Rubavu after video [WATCH VIDEO] circulated showing officers forcibly apprehending a young woman at a bus park in a dispute reportedly linked to the length of her skirt.
Rwanda National Police later said the officers shown in the footage had been detained and the woman had been cleared. Police officers across the country were also cautioned against similar conduct, according to reporting on the RNP response.
FEMNET cites reports of women being refused entry to public events, harassed, wrongfully arrested, threatened or searched because of what they were wearing.
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The network argues that the Rubavu arrests do not fully resolve what it considers a structural problem created by ambiguous law and subjective enforcement.
Rwanda's Gender-Equality Reputation Enters the Debate
FEMNET also places Rwanda's international reputation at the centre of its argument.
Rwanda is frequently recognized for women's representation in political institutions and presents gender equality as a major part of its national development record.
The petition argues that policing women over clothing could undermine those achievements by turning women's bodies and personal appearance into matters for criminal enforcement.
That creates a reputational challenge for Kigali. The government can point to the detention of the Rubavu officers as evidence that mistreatment is not acceptable, while critics can argue that the lack of a clear legal boundary allows similar confrontations to happen.
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