Rwandan President Paul Kagame has defended cultural expectations on dressing, arguing that societies have their own standards of acceptable behaviour which should not be abandoned simply because other countries embrace different ways of life.
Speaking on Thursday while addressing more than 10,000 young Rwandans at BK Arena in Kigali during the “Meet The President” session, Kagame said dress codes should be understood within the context of the places people visit and the values of the society in which they live.
“If you are going to the beach, by the water, where people go to relax, there is a certain way you can dress and behave that may be different from other places. That is perfectly acceptable. But imagine someone coming here dressed as though they were at the beach. Would that work? Wouldn't you all turn around and wonder, what happened to this person?” Kagame asked.
His remarks come amid a growing debate in Rwanda over restrictions on women's dressing, following incidents in which women have faced scrutiny over their clothing in public spaces.
The debate intensified after a video circulated showing police officers forcefully handcuffing a young woman wearing a miniskirt at a bus park in Rubavu.
The Rwanda National Police subsequently cleared the woman of wrongdoing and detained the officers involved pending disciplinary review.
The incident also drew criticism from human rights advocates and public commentators, who argued that cultural values should not be used to justify police intimidation, harassment or arbitrary enforcement of dress standards against women.
Addressing the wider debate, Kagame said the expectations should apply to men as well, arguing that discussions about dressing are often unfairly directed at women.
“By the way, this is not just about women. Most of the time, these things are made to be about women, but the same applies to men. Even now, imagine we are sitting here, and a man suddenly walks in, as though he has just come from the gym, wearing shorts, with nothing on his upper body, and comes to sit among us. People would ask, what happened to this person? Did he forget where he was going?” he said.
Kagame argued that societies should be allowed to maintain their own social standards rather than adopt practices from other countries without considering whether they fit local values.
He said people's willingness to participate in a particular social setting could also depend on the expectations established by those organising it.
“Now, if we had all agreed to come dressed that way, then perhaps that is how it would be. But some people would not come. Isn't that so? Some would simply decide not to attend, saying, we are not going to be part of that,” he said.
The Rwandan leader said communities have ways of regulating behaviour through shared expectations and self-regulation, adding that practices accepted elsewhere should not automatically be embraced by Rwandans.
“There is a way society regulates itself, including through self-regulation. But when you simply say, we have seen this elsewhere, so let us do the same here, and you bring it into our society, society may tell you, we have not reached that point yet. Perhaps we were moving in that direction, but we are not there yet,” Kagame said.
He called for disagreements over cultural values to be handled through dialogue rather than hostility, saying people should be able to reach an understanding when differences emerge.
“That should not create any hostility. There should be a way of regulating these things so that people can come to an understanding,” he said.
Kagame compared society's response to unfamiliar practices to the body's reaction to a foreign object, which it gradually attempts to remove.
“It is like a foreign body. I think those of you in the medical profession know this. When a foreign object, a fragment of something, enters the body, the body tends to reject it. It keeps pushing it out. Even when a thorn gets stuck in your skin, if you leave it there for some time, it begins to work its way out. Eventually, you find it near the surface and remove it. Society works in much the same way,” he said.
He added that tensions can arise when individuals seek to introduce practices that conflict with the established values of a community, while other members of that society resist the changes.
“A healthy society, with its own way of functioning, when something unfamiliar is introduced into it, gradually, little by little, that society begins to push it away. There is then a struggle between someone trying to change society to fit something they have brought from elsewhere, and society itself saying, do not bring these things here, and pushing that person away. But there should be no conflict. That is how these things should work,” Kagame said.
He urged young people to reflect on the values they want for themselves and the direction in which they want their society to develop.
“Young people like you should keep these things in mind. Think about them. Understand what it is that you want for yourselves,” he said.
Kagame also called for open discussions about changing social norms, urging young Rwandans to question practices that are becoming more common but which they consider inconsistent with their culture or harmful to society.
“Even here, in our discussions, people should be able to raise these questions and say, there are things we have seen becoming increasingly accepted in our society, yet they are not part of our culture. They do not even bring us any benefit. Why should we accept them, especially when they are things that harm people? Why?” he asked.