DRESS CODE IN INDONESIA

Muslim women would be banned from wearing tight pants in a devoutly Islamic district of Indonesia’s Aceh province under proposed regulations to take effect January 1. It is the latest effort to promote strict moral values in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. Any Muslim caught violating the dress code, which also prohibits shorts for men, will be told to put on government-issued full-length skirts or loose pants, said Ramli Mansur, head of West Aceh District. “Wearing tight jeans exposes their bodies, which is strictly banned under Islam,” said Mansur, who appealed to civil servants to go beyond the rules and refuse government services to women wearing the banned clothing. Islamic law is not enforced across the vast island nation. But bans on drinking alcohol, gambling and kissing in public, among other activities, have been enforced by some local governments in recent years.