Five women arrested in protest against mandatory long skirts in public schools

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Five women arrested in protest against mandatory long skirts in public schools

3:28 CAT | 21 Mar 2016

O País

Five women were arrested on Friday afternoon while protesting against the mandatory wearing of long skirts in secondary schools in Maputo. The arrests took place in front of the Francisco Mayanga secondary school, which imposed the wearing the ban on short skirts three years ago.

The protesters maintain the compulsory wearing of long skirts in Maputo’s public secondary schools violates women’s rights, but their action was cut short by police because the protest was not authorized by the municipality.

When the protesters resisted, five of them were arrested and taken to the seventh police station, where they explained that they were not demonstrating but putting on a street theatre performance to discourage violence against women.

Director of the Francisco Mayanga, Orlando Dimas, says he was surprised by the presence of his school’s pupils in the protest group, since the regulation ‘against short skirts’ was well-received at the time.

The unrest prompted the arrival of Assistance to Women and Children’s office personnel, concerned that children could be run over because of the demonstration.

The public action had been announced in a statement by non-governmental organizations Women’s Forum, Defence Network of Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Lambda and Female Movement of Mozambique. According to the document, the next stage in the campaign is to request a meeting with the Ministry of Education over the regulation imposing the mandatory use of long skirts to secondary school students in Maputo.

Source: O País