A Melbourne School Has Been Slammed For Slut-Shaming Students Over The Recent Porn Ring Scandal
Students were told that "boys don’t respect girls who wear short skirts."
By now, you’ve probably already heard the nauseating news about the pornography ring that has been targeting students from at least 70 schools around Australia. You also probably figured that it was only a matter of time before somebody came out and blamed the victims. Well, congratulations: you were right.
In an angry Facebook post published earlier this week, the mother of a girl at one of the schools implicated in the scandal described how, rather than laying the blame at the feet of the perpetrators, the school instead decided to drag female students into an assembly where they were chastised over the lengths of their skirts.
“I received a furious text from my daughter yesterday about a meeting all year seven to ten girls were ordered to attend,” wrote Catherine Manning, whose daughter attends Kymbra College in Melbourne’s south. “It seems her school decided the best line of defence was to haul the girls into a meeting and not just police their appearance, but thoroughly insult and denigrate them.”
“At the assembly my daughter and her friends said they were told they had to check the length of their skirts, and that anything that doesn’t touch their knees or below by Monday morning would be deemed inappropriate. They were informed that this was to ‘protect their integrity’. They were also told not to post photos of themselves online, and to refuse any request from a boyfriend for a ‘sexy selfie’, as their boyfriends will only be around for a couple of days; maximum a year; but definitely not in ten years’ time. They were told the boys are distracted by their legs, and that boys don’t respect girls who wear short skirts.”
“As a parent, I am MORTIFIED that my daughter was subjected to such appalling messaging at the hands of those entrusted to care for her,” continued Manning. “The problem is not with the girls and the length of their skirts, nor whether or not they choose to share photos with their boyfriends or anyone else. It’s with the boys themselves; their sense of entitlement and sexist attitudes towards women and girls, their lack of respect, and the trust they CHOOSE to break.”
Manning’s post has since been shared more than 12,500 times. She told the ABC she was pleasantly surprised by the reception it had received. “I think it resonates with a lot of people,” she said. “Most girls and women have been judged based on their clothing.”
Kambrya College assistant principal Jo Wastle said in a statement that the school had made the decision to hold separate assemblies for male and female students “to create smaller groups and encourage open dialogue” about “dress code, sexting, social media and respect.”