Tag: Harassment

A university in Nigeria’s northern Kano state has suspended male students who harassed a female student for her outfit.

In a viral online video, the students can be seen taunting the female student dressed in the Arabian clothe called abaya, a loose fitting long garment that reaches to the ankles.

It is popular for women in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria.

The Kano State University of Technology described the actions of the male students as shameful and said their suspension was to serve as a warning to others.

Seventeen male students are under investigation for their role in the incident and at least five have been suspended.

The university has also declared 27 May every year to celebrate the abaya and students were asked to wear the outfit on Thursday.

The victim told the BBC that she cried after the incident as it was the first time she was subjected to such because of her outfit.

“I cried because I don’t dress indecently and the abaya covered my body properly,” she said.

It is rare for Muslim women in northern Nigeria to be harassed for their outfits and this harassment is linked to posts on social media from two weeks ago.

Ahead of the Salah celebrations, some northern young women took to social media to say they were willing to do anything to be rewarded with the outfit, says the BBC’s Mansur Abubakar in Kano.

This prompted some men to begin to mock women seen in the outfit with shouts of “abaya”, he said.

Hisbah, the Sharia police in the state, has also warned men that they face arrest and prosecution if they harass women wearing the abaya.