Teacher faces probe for 'leggings' remark

Gülseven Özkan - ISTANBUL

An investigation has been launched into statements allegedly made by a religion course teacher in Istanbul, in which he said he was aroused by female students wearing leggings and pants.

“I get aroused when I look between the legs of girls wearing leggings and pants,” said the teacher identified only by the initials E.Ş., a high school teacher in Istanbul’s Beykoz district, according to a claim by the Education and Science Workers’ Union (EĞİTİM-Sen), an education labor union.

E.Ş. allegedly asked a female student wearing pants stand up during class and asked a male student what he thought of her.

“That’s it,” the teacher said after the male student responded “me too,” according to EĞİTİM-Sen.

E.Ş. also allegedly said in a separate class that he saw women as sex objects and implied that he would rape a woman if they were alone in a room.

“An investigation has been launched into statements purportedly uttered by the teacher,” Beykoz District Education Directorate head Kazım Bozboy told daily Hürriyet.

Bozbay said E.Ş. told him that he was talking to the class about the importance dressing modestly based on Islamic conventions.