A Russian school girl has uprooted tradition and defied norms in recent days with her innovative way of protest. The Russian student lifted up her skirt in different railway stations in St. Petersburg, showing her black underpants, as a sign of protest against all those who have a perverse interest in secretly peeking at and taking pictures of women’s underpants. The video has been doing the rounds on the internet since being uploaded and has provoked a heated discussion on the subject.

Self-styled public activist Anna Dovgalyuk, posted a video titled “What lies underneath my dress?” on Youtube on the 25th of this month. In the video she is in a red dress walking among busy crowds in St. Petersburg stations, and lifting up her skirt in front of the camera, revealing her black underpants and inviting a few angry and disapproving stares.

Anna said, this video is for all those perverts who take pleasure in staring at and taking photos of women’s underpants. She hopes to draw attention to the sufferings of female victims, and fire a shot across the bows to sexual predators so that they would not prey on female victims after watching the video. She also hopes the video would serve as a wakeup call for the Russian authorities to take belated action and outlaw the act of peeking at and taking pictures of underpants.

Internet users were split down the middle over Anna’s unconventional way of protest. Some say “I agree with making those acts illegal”, “I am happy to see women standing up and speaking out on this issue”, while others think this protest would cause undesirable impacts.