France drops law to allow women to wear trousers

The French government has revoked a centuries-old law banning women from wearing trousers.

The law, passed in November 1799 and amended a century later to allow women to wear trousers when "holding the handlebars of a bicycle or the reins of a horse," was repealed last week by French Minister for Women's Rights Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, French media reported on Monday.

The law was "incompatible with the principles of equality between men and women that are written into the constitution, as well as in France's European engagements," Vallaud-Belkacem said.

"Because of this incompatibility, this [law] is implicitly repealed. It has absolutely no legal effect. The document is nothing but a museum piece." Nepalnews.com