Uproar after Swedish woman ordered off bus for not wearing enough clothes

A driver has been suspended after kicking a 19-year-old woman off his bus in Malmö, Sweden, because she was wearing “too few clothes.” The incident sparked public outrage, also forcing an apology from the transport company.

Amid Sweden’s blistering heatwave (local media say the Scandinavian nation experienced temperatures as high as … 27 degrees Celsius, or 80 degrees Fahrenheit), Amanda Hansson boarded a bus in the Swedish city, which has a large migrant community, wearing weather-appropriate shorts and a camisole top. Her bus ride was cut short, however, after she was unexpectedly summoned by the driver.

Relaying the encounter in a Facebook post, Hansson said that the driver told her that she was wearing “too few clothes” and that she should “cover up.” The transport employee said her attire violated the company’s dress code.

The young woman protested the order before exiting the bus.

“I asked him what sort of sexist s**t he was trying to pull, but he just continued to say that I should cover myself up,” Hansson told the Kvällsposten newspaper. “What gives a bus driver the right to decide if a woman has ‘unsuitable clothing’ on?” she asked.

Her ordeal garnered thousands of shares and comments on Twitter and Facebook, sparking the interest of local media.
After her story went public, the local transport authority and the bus operator apologized. The driver has been suspended from his post pending an investigation into the incident.

Local traffic director Linus Eriksson immediately addressed the PR nightmare. “Something went wrong,” he wrote on Twitter. “Of course people are welcome on board our buses and trains in shorts and a camisole.”

He told Swedish media that the driver was not acting out of any “religious or political motive.”

The bus company confirmed that it has no policy barring women from wearing certain clothing, and regretted the “erroneous treatment” that Hansson received.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!