A mother has accused her child’s school of “slut-shaming” and “victim blaming” its female students in the wake of the recent online pornography scandal involving several Australian high schools.
In a passionate Facebook post that has been shared more than 10,000 times, Melbourne mother Catherine Manning said she was “mortified” to learn that Year 7 to 10 girls at state school Kambrya College were hauled into a special single-sex assembly during which they were told not to wear short skirts or to send naked selfies to boys.
“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’,” Manning wrote.
“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.”
The assembly was reportedly in response to revelations first reported by Mamamia that images of underage girls were among those being circulated via an online pornography ring.
Authorities are currently investigating the forum, which contained multiple folders that appeared to house explicit images of students from several Australian high schools.