‘Give girls uniform choice’

ALL schoolgirls in Halton should be given the option of wearing trousers instead of skirts if it makes them feel safer from sexual harassment, a borough councillor has said.

Speaking at a meeting of full council, Halton Lea Labour councillor Kath Loftus told members that recent high profile crimes committed against women, such as the murder of Sarah Everard, had highlighted wider problems in society, which she said schools should be at the forefront of helping to challenge.

She said: “There are recent examples of women paying the ultimate price for our society being unable to socialise males, so that violence and sexual violence is unacceptable.

“Schools should now be at the forefront of this by adapting the curriculum to show that sexual harassment will be challenged, recorded and dealt with.”

At a previous meeting of the council’s Children Young People and Families Policy and Performance Board held on September 13, board members were given a briefing on a raft of new measures being delivered in Halton in response to a national campaign to shine a light on sexual violence and sexual harassment (SVSH) in schools across the country.

The measures include providing safeguarding support, training and materials to all schools in Halton to enable them to identify and respond to allegations of sexual violence and sexual harassment both in and out of school, including incidents which occur online.

At that meeting, Cllr Loftus had said schoolgirls in Halton should have the option to wear trousers if they wanted to.

At present, each school in the borough makes its own decisions on uniform requirements.

At the recent meeting of full council, Cllr Loftus told members: “I asked for a relaxation in school uniforms so that all schoolgirls - if they felt more secure and confident - to be able to wear pants in school.

“Some people will say they should have the right to wear whatever they want in school, and I agree with that.

“But if a young woman in a school feels safer with a pair of pants on, she should be able to dress in that manner.”