Slutwalk - Part One of Two- Why it is Important

In society women have always been judged on their whether they look good by men and other women but in today's society women are now being judged due to their appearance in a whole other way.


The title of this post will either ring familiarity or you will be wondering what exactly 'Slutwalk' is - and no it is not a strip club you visited - it is in fact a protest against the view in society that those that are subject to sexual attack are to blame due to their 'slutty clothing'. 


After completing a dissertation on sexualisation I would define 'slutty clothing' as being clothing that holds potential to command sexual attention through either showing a lot of flesh or through drawing attention to sexual features.  


Of course dressing provocatively does not automatically mean that you want to draw attention to yourself or are sexually promiscuous but some people like the Toronto Police would argue that by dressing this way you run the risk of being victimised. 

"Women should stop dressing like sluts to avoid being victimised". 

This attitude certainly did not impress the women of Toronto and women across the world soon followed suit by expressing their disgust.  


Crimes of a sexual nature already go highly unreported and to think that the police hold this view certainly does not encourage women to come forward and report the atrocities that they have fell victim of. Emphasis on the word Victim. 

According to research by Surrey University in the UK 70-90% of rape's go unreported and 94% of reported cases do not end in conviction.  There is something seriously wrong with this and this is where Slutwalk comes in. 

"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".

The aim of Slutwalk is to make 'our' voices heard and to demand respect and rights for victims of sexual assault but most importantly it is to make a unified statement that the 'survivor' is not to blame. 

Slutwalk's are taking place all over the world and there are two happening in my country of Scotland - Glasgow and Edinburgh.  If you want to get involved the second part of this post will detail how you can get involved but in the mean time you can check out:  The Facebook Page and to find out more about the cause The Official Website.