I read with more than a little dismay this morning of the school principal in Victoria who has reportedly banned female students from participating in running events because it may cause them to lose their virginity. Dismay is probably an understatement.
The Age reports that the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority is investigating Al-Taqwa College after receiving a letter from a former teacher at the Islamic school.
The teacher’s letter, sent to the federal and state education ministers, says that the principal believes women running excessively may “lose their virginity” and also believes that a girl injuring herself playing sport may render her infertile. (It seems a crash course in biology and reproduction as a matter of urgency would be useful.)
As enraging as it is to comprehend a school principal in Australia in 2015 discriminating against female students so overtly there is a silver lining. It comes in the form of a handwritten letter from a group of “cross country girls” at the school.
These are extracts of the letter addressed to Salam Mr Omar Hallak:
This letter is about the cross-country that has been cancelled. Apparently it is because girls can’t run and that is really offensive to all the girls that were going to participate in the event. It is also not fair for the students and the teachers because the students were practising so hard and was also very excited to represent our school Al-taqwa college for running.
As a school principal you should treat all the subjects equally.
Just because we are girls doesn’t mean we can’t participate in running events. It also doesn’t say that girls can’t run in the hadith. As long as us girls are wearing appropriate clothes we can run.
I hope you understand what us grils are trying to say “girls can participatie in sporting events” and I also hope you can do something about this situation. It also would be good if you could do something about it since everybody is displeased.
Many parents are annoyed with your decision because girls and boys should be able to participate equally.
This letter fills me with pride for the students of Al-Taqwa. The schoolgirls have perfectly captured the inequity of the situation and rather than accept it, they are seeking to have it rectified.
They want to run. They have been practising ahead of a cross country event. They are excited and so are their teachers. Their religion does not ban them from running so why should their school principal?
In the face of any injustice – big or small – there are usually two choices. Accept or reject. In this instance a group of school girls have made a courageous and commendable choice to reject it. They have banded together, voiced their displeasure and requested a change.
As dispiriting as it is that these girls need to request fairness from their school principal, it is nevertheless inspiring that they have done it so readily. It fills me with hope. Standing up and rejecting inequity is the only way that inequity will ever be addressed. These girls are setting an exceptional benchmark for themselves and for others in doing so.
I hope they will be running soon. If they can’t participate in the cross-country that will be a travesty but they can take comfort knowing they have represented Al-Taqwa college supremely well already.