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After attacks by mobs of men, Kenyan women march for right to wear mini-skirts

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Kenyan women protesters pose for a friend to take a picture of them, as they demonstrate for the right to wear whichever clothes they want, at a demonstration in downtown Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. A recent incident in which a mob of men surrounded a woman and tore her clothes off, leaving her naked on the street in front of a bus stop after alleging that she was improperly dressed, is one of several such videos that have surfaced online in recent days leading to a groundswell of anger that on Monday prompted around 1000 demonstrators, including a number of men supporting the women's cause, to march through the capital and protest online using the hashtag #MyDressMyChoice. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (The Associated Press)

Kenyan women protest for the right to wear whichever clothes they want, at a demonstration in downtown Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. A recent incident in which a mob of men surrounded a woman and tore her clothes off, leaving her naked on the street in front of a bus stop after alleging that she was improperly dressed, is one of several such videos that have surfaced online in recent days leading to a groundswell of anger that on Monday prompted around 1000 demonstrators, including a number of men supporting the women's cause, to march through the capital and protest online using the hashtag #MyDressMyChoice. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (The Associated Press)

Kenyan women protest for the right to wear whichever clothes they want, at a demonstration in downtown Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. A recent incident in which a mob of men surrounded a woman and tore her clothes off, leaving her naked on the street in front of a bus stop after alleging that she was improperly dressed, is one of several such videos that have surfaced online in recent days leading to a groundswell of anger that on Monday prompted around 1000 demonstrators, including a number of men supporting the women's cause, to march through the capital and protest online using the hashtag #MyDressMyChoice. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (The Associated Press)

Nearly 1,000 people have marched through the streets of Kenya's capital to protest a recent rash of attacks by mobs of men on women who have been deemed too provocatively dressed.

Mobile phone videos show the attackers stripping the women naked. In response, the phrase #MyDressMyChoice is trending in Kenya's social media, as this country works through a clash between new, Western lifestyles and traditional African ways.

Rachel Machua wore what she called "a little black dress ... my normal outfit" to Monday's protest. She views the attacks as being by lower income men jealous of successful, well-dressed women.

Women play an active role in Kenyan society though few hold high-ranking elected office. Parliament is a virtual men's club, unlike in nearby Rwanda, where half of parliament is female.