Short skirts, knee-high socks, white blouses: Girls' school uniform items are widely used as costumes in pornographic videos. As students experience harassment, a group wants to change that.
I just don’t understand what exactly it is that the government could do. It would result in them have to define a school uniform and since there isn’t a standardized uniform across all schools in the UK that would become quite difficult.
Right now? The govt hasn’t done anything. Only two Parliament members so far have expressed support for their petition, and I suspect that’s only because this is gaining public attention.
Since nobody has read the article, here are the relevant points:
Aylin and Mae, both age 15, are members of their school’s Little Feminist Book Club in Bicester, Oxfordshire, England.
During a group discussion, the club learned that teenagers at other schools were trying to have the sale of school uniforms banned in sex shops.
Schoolgirl costumes are also widely used in pornographic videos.
“All of us unanimously agreed. We wanted to take it a step further; we wanted to ban school uniform from all pornography,” Aylin told DW. As a result, they started a petition to raise awareness of the issue.
Many of their fellow students, as the petition states, have already had unpleasant experiences while wearing their uniforms. Some reported being harassed as early as the age of 11. Many of these experiences had left them feeling frightened, ashamed and insecure. **“I don’t wear my school uniform outside of school,” said Mae. “I don’t like wearing it out.” **
In their petition, the girls also refer to a 2018 report by the charity Plan International. According to a survey in the report, 35% of the 1,004 respondents aged 14 to 21 had experienced unwanted sexual attention while wearing a school uniform. Eight percent said they had been filmed or photographed by a stranger without their permission, or that someone had taken a photo under their school skirt, known as “upskirting.”
In the United Kingdom, uniforms are mandatory at almost all schools and preschools, which means essentially all children between the ages of 4 to 16 wear them.
Outside school, children have no way to escape unwanted attention.
Until that happens, they still have a long way to go, but the girls are optimistic. As of October 5, 2026, the petition has garnered more than 24,000 signatures. Thanks to an article in the English newspaper The Times, it’s also gotten plenty of attention.
Now, Mae and Aylin hope to get parliament to debate the issue. Two Members of Parliament have already voiced their support.
But the girls also know some people believe longer skirts are the solution. “I believe that’s wrong,” explains Aylin. “We shouldn’t blame the victims. We should blame those who think it is acceptable to sexualize them.”
These are smart kids. The dismissive comments here regarding their opinions and personal experiences with a blanket “just trying to ban porn” statement is a gross overreaction and shifting the blame onto the victims.
The comments and not dismissive you’re just misinterpreting them.
The discussion is about how the government approaches this. An outright band would be ridiculously unworkable, if you want any effective law you have to define it and this is the very definition of a blanket ban. The government in this country have a history of not thinking things through and implementing blanket laws that don’t work, don’t actually solve the problem that they are supposed to solve, and make criminals out of innocent people.
Look at the incredibly ill thought out draconian and completely ineffective ID laws they’ve implemented. Anyone with half a brain can work around those. And now rather than accept that the law is stupid they’ve started talking about banning VPNs because apparently the solution to every problem is more restriction. None of this would be a problem if MPs had more than six brain cells.
The issue with people harassing underage girls, the solution is not a pornography ban.
The first step is calling attention to it, which is exactly what these kids are doing. That’s how conversations about this have to start.
To the point about govt overreach, I don’t disagree - but again, only two MPs have even acknowledged this at all.
The fact that a not-insignificant amount of commenters are immediately jumping to “They’re taking my kink material!!” while barely even acknowledging the kids is very concerning.
I just don’t understand what exactly it is that the government could do. It would result in them have to define a school uniform and since there isn’t a standardized uniform across all schools in the UK that would become quite difficult.
Right now? The govt hasn’t done anything. Only two Parliament members so far have expressed support for their petition, and I suspect that’s only because this is gaining public attention.
Since nobody has read the article, here are the relevant points:
These are smart kids. The dismissive comments here regarding their opinions and personal experiences with a blanket “just trying to ban porn” statement is a gross overreaction and shifting the blame onto the victims.
The comments and not dismissive you’re just misinterpreting them.
The discussion is about how the government approaches this. An outright band would be ridiculously unworkable, if you want any effective law you have to define it and this is the very definition of a blanket ban. The government in this country have a history of not thinking things through and implementing blanket laws that don’t work, don’t actually solve the problem that they are supposed to solve, and make criminals out of innocent people.
Look at the incredibly ill thought out draconian and completely ineffective ID laws they’ve implemented. Anyone with half a brain can work around those. And now rather than accept that the law is stupid they’ve started talking about banning VPNs because apparently the solution to every problem is more restriction. None of this would be a problem if MPs had more than six brain cells.
The issue with people harassing underage girls, the solution is not a pornography ban.
The first step is calling attention to it, which is exactly what these kids are doing. That’s how conversations about this have to start.
To the point about govt overreach, I don’t disagree - but again, only two MPs have even acknowledged this at all.
The fact that a not-insignificant amount of commenters are immediately jumping to “They’re taking my kink material!!” while barely even acknowledging the kids is very concerning.
You underestimate the government’s ability to overstep bounds, and fuck up things for everyone.