'You're asking for it': Students protest after shocking sex education lesson
Students at a Catholic high school are protesting after they say women were blamed for provoking men’s bad behaviour, during a sex education lesson.
During the sessions on sexual harassment and rape, a minister allegedly told the grade nine theology class that the way they dress encourages men, which puts women at fault.
“Ladies, if you dress provocative, if you dress and leave absolutely nothing to the imagination younger girls look and go, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s got plenty of boys around her,” the minister at Divine Child High School in Dearborn, Michigan, US, said in a recording provided to WXYZ by a student.
“Those younger guys go, ‘Oh, that’s how you talk about women, that’s how you look at women as an object, something to be dissected’,” he added.
Upset with the lesson, 40 teenage girls wore paper targets on their uniforms to protest the way they were targeted, WXYZ reported.
The girls claimed that school authorities told them to either take them off or stay an extra hour for detention after school.
The students also put up posters in school that read, “Instead of publicly shaming girls for dressing how they want, teach men not to over sexualise women’s bodies.”
The ninth-graders weren’t the only ones who took issue with the way they were treated. One father told the news outlet he supported his daughter’s stance.
“He was telling a woman, ‘If you dress a certain way, you’re asking for it’,” said the dad, who wanted to remain anonymous.
He added that he wanted to make sure young girls were not being pressured to be silenced.
“This goes against what we as Catholics teach to everyone,” the parent said.
In a statement, Divine Child High School’s parent support organisation told Yahoo Lifestyle that School administrators were looking into the events.
“Our students' comfort, safety and well-being are paramount to their experience at Divine Child High School, and we are taking all concerns seriously. To that end, we have discussed these concerns with some students and parents and welcome input from all of our stakeholders,” the statement read.
“School administration has no record of students being suspended, issued detentions or otherwise disciplined as a result of this situation.”
Divine Child High School came under fire in April last year for introducing “modesty ponchos” for students whose prom outfits were seen as inappropriate. After facing backlash, they eventually reversed the rule.
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