'I am interested though as to whether you believe any attire should be prohibited or is it no holds barred? I mentioned KKK robes. Should it be perfectly acceptable for a group wearing this outfit, another total disguise, to roam the streets of say Redfern? '

Yeah I don't see why not. For a start, it should be every civilian's right not to be recorded by the ubiquitous CCTV. Also, wearing that gear doesn't necessarily imply an allegience to the KKK. Thridly, the KKK has more relevance in southern USA, not so much here. Fourthly, are we starting into the thought crime territory?

Even Nazi uniforms, perfectly valid tools for parody. No doubt offensive to some, as all black humour has the potential to be, but without any definitively provocative *action*, I'm happy for people to wear what they like.

'Should restrictions be allowed to apply for certain dress standards in any situation? Should half-blinded burqa wearers be free to drive in their garb?'

How one presents themselves is an individual thing, and should be covered by free expression.

Of course, private clubs should be free to exclude members who don't dress in a manner that they desire, but public space should be a free for all.

I have a theory that short people, including many asian people are terrible drivers due to this peripheral vision problem. So be it, we cant all be excellent drivers. I'm sure a solution can be found if it *really* is a significant problem. Look at the stats and see if it is, then work from there.

'One of the disadvantages we live with daily is the proliferation of regulations and red tape which has evolved to deal with the issues diversity has delivered.'

Would this not be totally negated by my free for all? Once you start trying to please everyone.... Did you ever see the South Park episode about Christmas?

'"How could this be allowed to happen?"'
I'm prety confident that the reduced peripharal vision of women wearing traditional head dress doesn't pose a significant threat.

What is never pointed out is that the burqua says more about men than
it says about women.
The worry the moslem men have is that if other men see their wives is
that they will be raped. The women would run the risk of gang rape.

Does that ring a bell with you ?

So probably the best solution is to ban moslem men.

Baz - you may well have a point!

"A foreign student jailed in Melbourne for seven sexual assaults told the court he was upset at the way Australian women dressed and behaved.

Libyan Almahde Ahmad Atagore, 28, was sentenced to three years behind bars yesterday for sexual assaulting a number of young women in Melbourne in August and September last year, the Herald Sun reports.

Atagore was shocked by the cultural differences and felt isolated and depressed, particularly as he did not have a mosque nearby, said County Court Judge Margaret Rizkalla.

He told a psychiatrist he did not like how Australian women dressed, leaving him angry but also aroused.

He indecently assaulted four women outside the Mentone Hotel on two consecutive nights and also attacked two young girls, including a 13-year-old, while they were using an escalator at Flinders St station."

Two aspects of this case disturb me. 1) The attitude of this SCUMBAG who would have come here to 'study' with reasonable knowledge of the country and customs but who plays the 'culture' & 'religion' cards to try to mitigate his offensive criminal behaviour.
2)The manifestly inadequate sentencing of 3 years - of which he'll likely serve less than 12 months. That will equate to about 2 months for each of his six victims including the 13yr old.

We can only hope that when scumbag is released it will be into the hands of Immigration, straight to a detention centre and a one way ticket home. And if anyone in the prison system wants to render him incapable of further sexual activity in the meantime, it'll be a favour to the human race.

divine_msn
Being in Melbourne you may not remember the moslem gangs that raped
a number of women in Sydney. Their excuse was they were asking for it.
Remember the cats meat controversy ?

One gang the Bilal gang romed around in a group of four or six if I remember.
The leaders got 35 years later reduced to 25 years.

However, it demonstrates why the moslem men want them covered.
Basically, it is so moslem men won't rape them.
However they think we are the same as them and would rape any
uncovered women we could access. The women probably think the same way.

So in effect the demand to cover their women is an insult to Australian men.

The burka did not stop rape in Kosovo or Bosnia. Rape is illegal and those perpetrators in Sydney were convicted.

As much as the burka represents archaic social morays about men and women in some cultures (including insulting to men about lack of control of their sexual appetites that they can't possibly see a bit of naked ankle lest they turn into ravaging beasts) it would be far more dictatorial should governments start dictating what people can wear barring obvious security issues.

It is trying to address a broader perceived social problem by nibbling at the periphery.

What should be illegal is the 'forced' wearing of the burka and any violence in response of failing to cover-up which under DV laws is already illegal. The only argument in favour of a ban would be to ensure women are not forced into the wearing of the burka and that would be hard to police, overall the burden is on individuals to make their own choices, not governments.

It's interesting that I do have a problem with interacting in person with another human being while their face is obscured. Eyes can speak volumes, but we do rely on other facial expressions as an integral part of normal human communication.

By the same token, if we go back in time only a hundred or so years ago, Western women were covered from head to toe as ordinary cultural dress...one wasn't considered dressed unless they were "properly" attired in public - you wouldn't dream of leaving the house without a hat, and often gloves as well.

We've changed a lot in a relatively short space of history, but our great grandmothers were probably covered up as much as most Islamic women are today.