Fórum Mulher to fight for girls’ rights against mandatory long skirts in public schools

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Fórum Mulher to fight for girls’ rights against mandatory long skirts in public schools

4:32 CAT | 22 Mar 2016

Facebook (cropped photo to protect the identity of the minors) / Three Mozambican students come out on Facebook wearing their new long skirts' school uniforms.

The five women detained for participating in a protest against the mandatory wearing of long skirts in Mozambican schools last Friday were released after about seven hours of detention, a source from Fórum Mulher, the Women’s Forum organization, told Lusa.

The women, including a Spaniard and a Brazilian, were arrested while presenting a street theatre piece outside the Francisco Manyanga secondary school in Maputo.

Contacted by telephone, PRM spokesman in Maputo, Orlando Mudumane, told Lusa that the women were taken to the police station because their demonstration was illegal, as they had not informed the Municipal Council that they were going to stage the protest, as required by law.

“They had no documentation authorizing the demonstration and were disturbing public order in the vicinity of a school,” Modumane said.

The mandatory wearing of long skirt came into force at the beginning of this school year in some schools in Maputo, with opinions about its effectiveness divided. The Women’s Forum argues that harassment in Mozambican schools is structural and solving it requires more sophisticated policies than banning short skirts, which simply blames girls for the problem.

Forum spokesman Maira Domingos said: “Our activities continue and we will continue to advance our cause.”

Cases of harassment, sexual abuse and rape of girls are still common in Mozambican schools, especially in remote areas where girls’ protection is still minimal. International human rights organizations have repeatedly denounced the levels of impunity enjoyed by offenders and corresponding absence of effective protection for victims.

Source: Lusa