Jakarta women in miniskirts and leggings protest rape comment

Dozens of women and children poured into the streets of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, Sunday wearing miniskirts and leggings to protest a comment by a city official that women should not dress in skimpy clothing if they want to avoid sexual assault.

Jakarta city governor Fauzi Bowo said Friday that women should avoid wearing revealing clothing to prevent themselves from being raped or attacked, Reuters reports.

The governor apologized, but his message had already been sent around communities via Twitter and social media.

The protesters called on the government to do more to protect women from attacks.

“We feel threatened by the words of public officials regarding miniskirts. They should be giving responses that protect rape victims,” Faiza Mardzoeki, spokeswoman of the Alliance of Women Rejecting Rape, told the Jakarta Post.

“This is a lesson for all public officials in the country. Don’t ever blame women and discriminate on the way we are dressed in a rape case,” she said.

Protesters carried signs Sunday reading, "Don't tell us how to dress, tell them not to rape," and "My body is not porn, instead it's your dirty mind," Reuters reports.

Fauzi's statement came after cases of gang rape in Jakarta on public minivans.

There have been more than 100,000 cases of violence against women in Indonesia so far this year, according to data from Indonesia's National Commission for Women's Affairs, Reuters reports.