Malawian men have reacted furiously over messages on placards carried by some women activists during peaceful protest marches against women harassment for wearing mini-skirts  by gang of unemployed youths and sidewalk vendors.

The marches follow the harassment of a woman in Blantyre which made regional headlines this week by mostly street vendors over the woman’s wearing of a miniskirt.

Some women wore mini-skirts and bum shorts to the demonstration to show their outrage.

In some of the placards, the messages read, ‘I didn’t come from your rib. You came from my vagina’ and ‘The mere existence of your penis should not be a threat to my life.’

Some men have taken up in various social media platforms to condemn the strong language in the messages by the women activists.

The men said freedom of speech should not be at the expense of Malawi’s rich traditions and culture.

One sign was held up during the gathering with the words: “Vendor: Today I buy from you, tomorrow you undress me?”

In Mzuzu, the protesters have reacted angrily after the council chief executive officer McCloud Kadammanja delegated a security guard to receive a petition.

The protesters said the chief executive officer was not serious on a very important issue.

Until 1994, women in the deeply conservative southern African country were banned from wearing trousers or mini-skirts under the autocratic rule of Hastings Banda.

Men were also banned from having long hair.

Nyasa Times