Male students wear skirts to protest ban in Turkey's Antalya

ANTALYA - Doğan News Agency

Male students from different high-schools in Antalya pledges support to a protest against ban on girls wearing skirts, by walking with skirts on street. DHA photo

A small group of male high school students wore skirts in protest at a ban on girls wearing skirts yesterday at a high school in the southern province of Antalya.

Several male students, members of “Dev-Lis” (Revolutionary High Schoolers), turned out for the protest against a ban placed on girls wearing skirts late yesterday, after the Gazi Anatolian High School in Antalya prohibited its female students from wearing skirts as part of the school uniform.

Around 10 girls, identifying themselves as “young hope women from high school,” carried placards reading “No to skirt ban,” “skirt is not a seducer,” and marched along Kazım Özalp Street.

“The problem is that those with reactionary personalities view the female body as a sexual stimulant. If women wear short skirts, then men have the right to gaze at them and rape them. Such a mentality has caused the present ban of skirts in our schools,” said Hande Büyükacar, speaking on behalf of the young protesters.

Easiness aimed with change: Principle

Hayri Baş, the school’s principle, said that this year’s uniform was determined as consisting of gray pants and a white t-shirt for both male and female students, a decision that was also approved by the Parent-Teacher Association, Turkish daily Cumhuriyet reported last week.

“This decision has been made according to the new statute. It has been agreed to that our children wear uniforms. So we have decided that both male and female students wear pants. In this way our children will be more at ease,” said Baş.