SlutWalk is a transnational movement calling for an end to rape culture, including victim blaming and slut-shaming of sexual assault victims. Participants protest against explaining or excusing rape by referring to any aspect of a woman's appearance. The rallies began on April 3, 2011, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, after a Toronto Police officer suggested that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order to not be victimized" as a precaution against sexual assault. Subsequent independent rallies have occurred globally. Rallies continued through most of the 2010s before ceasing.
The protest took the form of a march, mainly by young women, where some dress in clothes considered to be "slutty." In the various SlutWalk Toronto-inspired events around the world, there are usually speaker meetings and workshops, live music, sign-making sessions, leafleting, open microphones, chanting, dances, martial arts, and receptions or after-parties with refreshments. In many of the rallies and online, women speak publicly for the first time about their identity as rape survivors.
Inception
Constable Michael Sanguinetti On January 24, 2011, Toronto Police Constable Michael Sanguinetti and another officer from 31 Division spoke on crime prevention, addressing the issue of campus rape at a York University safety forum at Osgoode Hall Law School. During the talk, Sanguinetti interrupted the more senior officer and said: "I've been told I'm not supposed to say this – however, women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized."
After an article that reported on the situation received international attention, Sanguinetti apologized for the remark saying:
I made a comment which was poorly thought out and did not reflect the commitment of the Toronto Police Service to the victims of sexual assaults. Violent crimes such as sexual assaults can have a traumatizing effect on their victims... My comment was hurtful in this respect. I am embarrassed by the comment I made and it shall not be repeated.
The apology was attached to an email distributed to the Osgoode community by law school dean Lorne Sossin who said they've been told the officer "is being disciplined and will be provided with further professional training." Co-founders Sonya Barnett and Heather Jarvis decided to redefine the word slut as someone who is in control of their own sexuality, to reclaim the word slut as a site of power for women. They observe that historically, slut has had negative connotations, and that their goal is to reclaim the term. Their website states:
We are tired of being oppressed by slut-shaming; of being judged by our sexuality and feeling unsafe as a result. Being in charge of our sexual lives should not mean that we are opening ourselves to an expectation of violence, regardless if we participate in sex for pleasure or work. No one should equate enjoying sex with attracting sexual assault.
Barnett insisted the apology was not enough, since the officer's stereotypical idea still exists in society.
The comment that was made by Officer Sanguinetti comes from a place where sexual profiling and victim blaming is inherent and a large trait and we'd like that changed," Barnett said, "It isn't about just one idea or one police officer who practices victim blaming, it's about changing the system and doing something constructive with anger and frustration.
Toronto Police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray said cautioning women on their state of dress is not part of any police training. "In fact, this is completely contradictory to what officers are taught," she said. "They are taught that nothing a woman does contributes to a sexual assault." Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair also spoke on the matter: "If that type of, frankly, archaic thinking still exists among any of my officers, it highlights for me the need to continue to train my officers and sensitize them to the reality of victimization." Sanguinetti's statement, according to Blair, is meant to "place the blame upon victims, and that's not where the blame should ever be placed."
Rosemary Gartner, a University of Toronto criminologist, said linking style of dress to sexual assault is "ridiculous." "If that were the case, there would be no rapes of women who wear veils and we know there are rapes in those countries," she said. Darshika Selvasivam, vice-president of the York Federation of Students, said she found the use of the word "extremely alarming." Linking provocative clothing to sexual assault "is a huge myth" and all it does is "blame the survivor of a sexual assault while taking the onus away from the perpetrator," she said. A university spokesperson also said the school was "surprised and shocked" by the comment, although it does have a good and collaborative relationship with police.
Justice Robert Dewar
SlutWalk organizer Sonya Barnett named the case of Justice Robert Dewar as one of the main reasons to create the movement, and it became also the main cause of Slutwalk Winnipeg.
On February 18, 2011 Justice Robert Dewar convicted Thompson resident Kenneth Rhodes, who worked for the city council, of sexual assault and sentenced him to two years house arrest. Dewar described Rhodes as a "clumsy Don Juan" who had the mistaken belief "sex was in the air" and a "heightened expectation" sex would occur. Dewar said the victim and a friend were dressed in tube tops and high heels when they met Rhodes and another man outside a bar "and made it publicly known that they wanted to party." The court in Winnipeg, Manitoba, heard that the victim had willingly gone off with Rhodes and kissed him. But after she rebuffed his further advances three times, he raped her by the side of the road once they were alone. Rhodes admitted telling the woman 'it would only hurt for a little while' during the assault.
He pleaded not guilty at his trial saying he thought the woman had consented to sex. Dewar rejected his defence but said aspects of it could be considered in sentencing. Prosecutors had asked for a three-year sentence, but Dewar gave Rhodes a conditional or suspended sentence, and ordered him to write a letter of apology to his victim. Politicians of all stripes joined student and feminist groups and those who work with sexual assault victims in decrying the comments.
University of Winnipeg politics professor Shannon Sampert said this is the collateral damage that occurs when you have poorly trained judges in the system. "The victim in this case gets to relive her experiences once again in a new trial, hoping that this judge won't require gender sensitivity training," said Sampert. She said surveys repeatedly show one of the primary reasons women do not report being raped is because of a fear of being victimized again by the justice system.
On February 25, nearly 100 people gathered to call for Justice Robert Dewar's resignation. "These statements by Dewar are reinforcing the myth of implied consent and the myth that a victim of sexual assault is ultimately responsible for their own victimisation," said Alanna Makinson of the Canadian Federation of Students, during the protest. Although this was not a part of Slutwalk, the launch of Slutwalk Toronto on April 3 gave the case national diffusion within Canada. On October 16, Slutwalk Winnipeg took place to reiterate the protest against the judge.
On November 9, Justice Dewar formally apologized. According to the judicial council, Dewar said he wished to "express my unequivocal apology to the (victim) for the hurt she must have experienced from my comments. Some of the letters of complaint, from persons who have worked directly with past victims, have pointed out that some of my comments were also traumatic for them. I very much regret that as well." Alberta Chief Justice Neil Wittmann, who reviewed the complaints against Dewar, said Dewar's comments "showed a clear lack of sensitivity towards victims of sexual assault" but do not merit his removal from the bench. According to the judicial council, Dewar has met with a "gender equality" expert and is "pursuing further professional development in this area as part of his commitment to become a better judge."
The Manitoba Court of Appeal later overturned Rhodes' conviction and ordered a new trial be set. The appeal court ruled Dewar did not properly assess the credibility of the accused and the alleged victim in reaching his verdict. Rhodes was sentenced to three years in prison in 2013.
First march and consequent growth
The first Slutwalk was organized in Toronto, Ontario, on April 3, 2011. Although the organizers expected around 200 people to show up, over 3,000 gathered at Queen's Park including Sierra "Chevy" Harris and Magdalena "Maggie" Ivasecko. "We want Police Services to truly get behind the idea that victim-blaming, slut-shaming, and sexual profiling are never acceptable.[...] The idea that a slut is a lesser person and deserving of sexual assault isn't exclusive to the police. Media also has to get behind this idea." Sonya Barnett explained.
The day began with speeches before moving to the Toronto Police Headquarters. The invitation in SlutWalk Toronto website also warned: "Whether a fellow slut or simply an ally, you don't have to wear your sexual proclivities on your sleeve: we just ask that you come. Singles, couples, parents, sisters, brothers, children, friends." Some women attended the protest wearing jeans and T-shirts, while others turned out in fishnets and stilettos.
On May 25, 2012, a new SlutWalk event was organized in Toronto. There were fewer participants than the previous occurrence, although the presence of men was more noticeable. Outfits ranged from sneakers and tank tops to bikinis to costumes. Some attendees went topless. A delegation from the Abbey of the Divine Wood, a Toronto mission of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, manifested in their nuns habits and carried signs including one which read: "Sisters Are Sluts 2".
At Queen's Park, several speakers took the stage—a multi purpose truck—and delivered speeches, some of them spontaneous testimonies. A few paid tribute to the memory of Toronto sex workers' rights activist Wendy Babcock, who took part in the first SlutWalk and died on August 9, 2011, at the age of 32. There were also multiple shows of support for Cece McDonald, a Minneapolis transgender woman facing a 41-month prison sentence for stabbing and killing a man after being harassed and slashed across the face.
On April 4, 2011, a Slutwalk in Sackville, New Brunswick was organized through the Sociology Student Association of Mount Allison University, and was coordinated to follow exactly a day after Toronto's SlutWalk. According to Rebecca Cheff, one of the organizer of the SlutWalk, "the goal is to walk towards the police station and speak to [the police officers] about victim blaming and to raise awareness as they're the frontline worker in sexual assault scenarios." "There is a big misconception that people that dress a certain way ask for sexual assault, and that needs to stop now," said SlutWalk student organizer, Lauren Hutchison. The phrase "still not asking for it" has become a rally cry behind many of these protests and has also been posterized on the bodies of men and women at these walks worldwide.
Dr. Vanessa Oliver, a professor of Sociology and faculty organizer of the SlutWalk, stated, "We have had enough of this slut shaming idea [...] owning our sexual selves should not mean that we are opening ourselves to an expectation of violence," she said. "No one should equate enjoying sex with attracting sexual assault." The protest contained a visible male presence. Two protesters dressed in morphsuits participating in the protest said, "As men we can also create awareness".
According to SlutWalk London, the rallies aim to end a culture of fear and victimisation: