The teacher at Liceo Righi in the Italian capital is accused of saying to the girl: “Are you on the Salaria?”
The Salaria is a road in Rome known for prostitution.
The student and a classmate were reportedly making a video to post on TikTok during a free class when the teacher in question walked in and made the remark.
The video has sparked widespread controversy in Italy.
On Wednesday morning dozens of students, male and female, attended the school exposing their navels under a banner that read: “Welcome to the Middle Ages.”
“After the insults of a teacher received by a student of our high school we decided to give a strong and clear signal to reiterate that sexism cannot have space in schools,” the students said.
“Now we’ll all go to school together dressed in a way to violate the dress code in solidarity with the offended student.”
The student at the centre of the controversy told Italian news agency Adnkronos: “The teacher did not expressly call me a prostitute, but she accused me of commercialising my body, because of the way I was dressed.”
Amid claims of double standards, the girl says that if she were a boy she would not have been insulted.
The school’s principal said the teacher in question had apologised for the “unfortunate remark” and claimed that she had not intended to offend the girl, according to Italian daily La Stampa.
The teacher reportedly argued that when she saw the girl dancing in a provocative nature with a bare midriff, she wanted to protect her rather than offend her.
