in Lebanon, the city of Saïda prohibits women from wearing swimsuits on the beach

It all started two weeks ago, when a woman, Mayssa, 43, sunbathed in a swimsuit on a beach in Saida, a coastal town in Lebanon located 40 km south of Beirut. She is talking with her husband, when suddenly two men, who present themselves as spokespersons for the Muslim community, ask them to leave. Tone up. A group of about fifteen young men surrounded and harassed them. ”One of them said to my husband, ‘It’s forbidden. God does not accept that we wear a bathing suit on the beach. She is naked. You have no shame ?’ I replied that I was not completely naked and that I was in a bathing suit.”

“When I go to the mosque, I wear a headscarf. When I go to the office, I put on a suit. And when I go to the beach, I put on a swimsuit. It’s my right and if you’re not happy you just don’t have to come here.”

Mayssa, 43 years old

at franceinfo

Private beaches so you can swim in a swimsuit

Immediately, Lebanese women mobilized to protest against this measure, and unsurprisingly, supporters of this ban responded by shouting “Allah akbar”. In the end, it was the fundamentalists who had the last word for the moment. A sign with the inscription “Swimming suit prohibited” now sits at the entrance to the beach. This is a first in Lebanon, where you can always see fully covered women swimming next to others in swimsuits.

For Mariam, met on the sand with her sister, this decision is simply scandalous. ”I am veiled. So I wear long sleeves. But my sister is not. And if she wants to wear a two-piece to the beach, she has the right! We are in a free country. Nobody can forbid us to go on a public beach, dressed as we want. Tired of this patriarchal society! Instead of pissing off women, mind your own business!'”

An appeal must be filed soon to have this new municipal decree repealed. In the meantime, the women of Saïda are obliged to go to paid private beaches a few kilometers from the city, if they want to continue to be able to swim in swimsuits.