Turkish vice-principal calls for 'harassment teams' to intimidate students who wear mini skirts

The principal of a school in southern Turkey could face criminal charges after calling for teams of males to be formed to harass female students who wear short skirts.

At a meeting with class presidents on February 9, the deputy principal of the Kepez Atatürk Anatolian High School, identified only as FG suggested "male students could follow girls who wear short skirts to make them feel uncomfortable, after which the students would eventually have to dress 'properly," reports Hurriyet Daily News.

Teachers objected to FG's suggestion at a subsequent meeting, but she defended the plan.

"Who is guilty when someone is harassed if we close our eyes on excessiveness?" she reportedly said, according to minutes of the meeting leaked to the newspaper.

However she has since denied that she is responsible for the plans. "I don't understand where [the claims] have come from," she told the newspaper.

Kadir Öztürk, the head of the local branch of the Eğitim-Sen teachers' union' said the organisation was preparing to file criminal charges against FG.

"Female students are being targeted. Principals and deputy principals do not have the right to say such things. Telling male students to 'harass' amounts to provocation," Öztürk said.

The news comes after mass protests were held in several Turkish cities after 20-year-old student Ozgecan Aslan was murdered after resisting rape, with Turkish women sharing stories of abuse and harrassment on Twitter under the hashtag #sendeanlat (you tell your story).