BOGOTA Thousands of male Bogota residents stayed home late Friday, sticking to a curfew for all men decreed by Mayor Antanas Mockus to let the city's women party hard and enjoy the night with their gal pals.

Women are "more peaceful and a lot more constructive" than men, said Mockus, an eccentric former mathematics and philosophy college professor in his second term in office.

Men are to stay indoors from 8 p.m. (0100 GMT Saturday) and 1 a.m. (0500 GMT) Saturday.

Male Bogotanos largely abided by the voluntary curfew, which coincides with International Women's Day, when it was first tested last year.

The city Friday sponsored several well-attended women-only concerts and dances, AFP reported.

Men who must be out during the curfew hours will be left alone, Mockus said upon announcing the measure.

But for those men who go out just to bother, "women have all the right to whistle and jeer at them, and they have all the right to feel embarrassed for departing from the collective game," he said.

Unlike last year, however, the evening coincided with a three-day "dry law" prohibition of liquor sales ahead of Sunday's congressional elections.