When a Toronta police constable credits rape to slutty attire, this is what you get…READ ON AFTER THE JUMP!
HUFFINGTON POST REPORTS:
Toronto police constable Michael Sanguinetti thought he was offering the key to rape prevention. “I’m not supposed to say this,” he told a group of students at an Osgoode Hall Law School safety forum on January 24, but to prevent being sexually assaulted, “Avoid dressing like sluts.â€
Despite Sanguinetti’s subsequent written apology and promises of further professional training, the victim-blaming gaffe heard round the world sparked a movement that began in Canada but is now sweeping the United States and abroad: SlutWalks.
“We had just had enough,†said Heather Jarvis, who founded SlutWalk Toronto with friend Sonya Barnett. “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.â€
While Jarvis, 25, and Barnett, 38, initially expected only 200–300 people to show their support, upwards of 3,000 massed on the streets of Toronto on April 3 — some wearing jeans and a T-shirt; others in outfits more appropriate for a Victoria’s Secret fashion show: thigh-highs, lingerie, stilettos — and marched to police headquarters. Their goal: to shift the paradigm of mainstream rape culture, which they believe focuses on analyzing the behavior of the victim rather than that of the perpetrator.
“The idea that there is some aesthetic that attracts sexual assault or even keeps you safe from sexual assault is inaccurate, ineffective and even dangerous,†said Jarvis. She recalled a sign at the march that read: “It was Christmas day. I was 14 and raped in a stairwell wearing snowshoes and layers. Did I deserve it too?”
Since the movement’s inception, the SlutWalk campaign has gone viral. Facebook groups have been emerging to promote satellite SlutWalks in Europe, Asia, Australia and most major US cities. Ashville, Dallas, Hartford, Boston and Rochester will host SlutWalks between now and May 7.
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SlutWalk? Is this some kid of idiotic joke? People these days…
kind*
Srsly. Time to stop acting like it’s the victim’s fault for a perpetrators motives and behaviors. “Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.” Also, “Self-control is strength.” (James Allen). A creature is hardly a man if he will not control his impulses, especially those impulses which violate another being. Rape is predatory, any questions. It is never a matter of what one is wearing (or not wearing). It is always a matter personal character that determines ones behavior (in the average functional adult). When any individual sexually exerts themselves upon another person’s being without or against consent… it is an effing crime, a crime committed by the perpetrator, not created by the victim.
“Slut Walks” are an interesting and hard-to-ignore tactic to bring awareness to the common social perceptions of rape. Hopefully a shift continues to occur which places the consequences of the crime squarely on the perpetrator. WTF. It’s pathetic to further punish a person for a crime committed against them.
Sanguinetti’s comment to Law students may have been an attempt at “intelligently” handling the matter but what he thought is common sense is really a tell about the common misconceptions regarding such crimes.
A bank shouldn’t look so vulnerable. If it looks easy to rob it may as well advertise in the national news that it is determined to be robbed.
But if the bank doors and windows were draped in steel bars.. and perhaps drab, uninviting paint and furnishes downplayed the entire layout.. then and only then could the bank not be at fault for robbery? Is that right?
But instead of a building we’re discussing a human body. And instead of financial objects being plundered, we’re talking about a person’s most private subjects being violated, vandalized, and abducted. A person doesn’t have any insurance (or assurance) that they’ll again possess the entirety of their “worth”.
The victim is not an accomplice and the P.O.S. that committed the crime is not a side-note. The rapist IS the problem.
Pardon the euphemism but it’s a lot like taking candy from a baby. An agressor identifies something he/she wants even though it belongs to another. If the aggressor believes they can over power the possessor and take what they want, an attempt is made. Protect our babies. Ladies, stay strong.
At first I thought the Slut Walk was poorly named as it didn’t appear to acknowledge the preciousness or value of female rape victims but it wasn’t until I thought, “Sluts”, regardless of promiscuity or lifestyle have as much right to be protected from rape as anybody else.” If a girl wants to give it up to everybody except Norman, that’s her effing perogative and there cannot be any confusion (legally or socially) as to her whether she’d be obligated to sexually engage with someone against her will.
Beside Slut Walks, how else might people spread awareness to put an end to victim-blaming and really address the criminal involved?
Pardon the long comment Flex. My first time commenting. Been following for several months. Great feed man!