Amsterdam men to don miniskirts in support of Cologne women
Update, 7 p.m., 12 January 2016: The time and meeting point for the rally was changed to Saturday at 1 p.m. on the Spui.
Male members of the PvdA, D66, SP and GroenLinks' youth movements will be protesting in mini-skirts on the Spui in the heart of Amsterdam on Saturday afternoon. They want to show support for women's rights and their displeasure with Cologne mayor Henriette Reker's statements following the large number of sexual assaults in the German city over New Year's.
After more than a hundred women were attacked in the German city on New Year's Eve, Reker advised women to stay at arms length of strangers. Advice that does not sit well with the Young Socialists in the PvdA, the Young Democrats, ROOD, the youth in the SP and DWARS, GroenLinks' youth.
On Facebook the youth movements invite men, and women, to join their protest on Saturday, wearing miniskirts. "Not women, but men must keep away at arms length. Too often sexual violence against women is put down as a woman-problem: don't wear short skirts. That is never the solution. Short skirts are not at fault." they write.
"Therefore we are reversing the rolls and we celebrate the skirt and the freedom that goes with it. We deploy our hairy knees for a free society in which women can walk the streets undisturbed, day and night, on short-skirt day or in the middle of the winter."
The rally is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
