Egypt religious authorities condemn ripped jeans fashion trend

Egyptian religious authorities have ruled that ripped jeans should not be worn, deeming the fashion trend "offensive" and "hurtful".

The state-run Dar al-Ifta issued the religious edict on Monday in a Facebook post.

"Your clothes are a cover for your private parts and a decoration for your body. Do not offend us with that which hurts our eyes and minds," the religious establishment said in the post, with an image of a man wearing torn jeans.

"This is a general statement not aimed only towards men. The picture is of a man because we cannot post a picture of a woman with ripped clothes," it added, responding to a user.

The fatwa comes amid controversy in Egypt over the fashion trend of wearing pre-ripped clothing.

Last month, a lawyer advocated raping women who wear revealing clothes, calling it a "national duty" to do so.

Nabih al-Wahsh, a prominent conservative, said in a televised debate that women wearing jeans ripped at the thigh and back deserved to be sexually assaulted.

Wahsh has since been sentenced to three years in prison for "publicly inciting to flout the law" and "spreading with malice reports and statements meant to perturb public order... and harm the public interest".

Egyptian women have long complained of rampant sexual harassment in the country, which the government has been working for several years to address with a tougher laws against public harrassment.

Cairo was named as the world's most dangerous city for women, according to a poll by Reuters.

A 2008 study by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights found that at least 83 percent of women in Egypt said they had been sexually harassed.

According to the same study, around 62 percent of men admitted to harassing women.