Thousands of Algerian women have defied Islamist hardliners by going to the beach in their bikinis.
The campaign began in the coastal town of Annaba after an Islamic internet campaign during Ramadan in which men published photographs on social media of women in bikinis, saying that they were acting against the values of Algerian society.
There is no law against bikinis in the country but women are increasingly stigmatised for wearing them and face growing pressure to switch to burkinis, the Islamic swimwear that covers the entire body.
The internet campaign exacerbated tensions in Algeria amid the spread of fundamentalist Islam.
A group of women in Annaba responded by launching a Facebook group that urged members to stand firm by wearing bikinis.
Advertisement
A few dozen women joined at first but the message spread and it now has more than 3,600 members.
Groups have also been formed in other areas. Halima, 32, a member of a group in Algiers, the capital, said: “I go swimming with the swimwear I choose, where I choose and when I choose.”
She said that many women went to the beach in burkinis or dresses but added: “We want to see a majority of them on the beach in swimsuits.”
Sara, 27, from Annaba, who launched the first Facebook group, said: “The aim is not to make a fuss . . . but to change society profoundly and gently. The only way to do that is to get thousands of people accustomed to what they consider to be forbidden.”