Kuwait may no longer see women in bikini anymore

A parliamentary committee in Kuwait has endorsed a proposal to ban women's "nudity" in public places and hotel corridors, which could lead to banning of women's bathing suits in the country.

MP Hamdan Al Azemi, the head of the anti-social behaviour committee, said that women's bathing suits were "alien to the Kuwaiti culture and could not be accepted or tolerated," Gulf News reported

The lawmaker told local daily Al Rai that there was no need for a specific definition of "nudity".

Beach decency has gained great attention recently in Kuwait, as conservative lawmakers and officials have been stressing the need for all residents to "respect the character of the Kuwaiti society and avoid what amounted to acts of provocation."

They insisted that "wearing a bikini is not a personal choice or a matter of personal freedom," but rather "an assault on local values and sense of decency and modesty."

The decision by the committee will have to be approved by the parliament before it is referred to the government. If it is accepted by the ministers, it is enacted as a binding legal text.