No One Asks For It

By Devonne and Claire

photo from http://www.yegslutwalk.com/background/

Slutwalk is a protest that was started in 2011 against victim blaming. In January of last year, a Toronto police officer told a group of women that to avoid being raped/sexually assaulted they should "avoid dressing like sluts to in order not to be victimized." Understandably, a few women (all over the country and world) were less than impressed, and decided to take a stand against the tendency in our culture to focus on the behaviour of the victim(s) rather than that of the offender(s). Slutwalk, in it's short history, is a movement that has spread to nearly sixty cities all around the globe.
The 2012 Edmonton Slutwalk is happening on Saturday July 7th, at the Legislature. We hope to see you there! We also wanted to tell you about why we're going.

photo from http://www.facebook.com/events/373281792720444/#!/events/373281792720444/

Slutwalk is not an event about women parading around wearing little clothing in the name of empowerment; Slutwalk is not even an exclusively female event. Though its conception was from the comments of one man about women, victim blaming affects all genders. Victim blaming is extremely prevalent in our culture, from people saying that saying that women dressed provocatively or drinking excessively are "asking for it," or inviting sexual assault. Also there are "rules" that tell women they shouldn't wear revealing clothing, should always watch their drink and should avoid certain areas and being alone. Then, if a woman is sexually assaulted, it is her fault for not following these "rules." How many teenage girls are told by their parents to watch their drink when they go to parties, and to always stay in pairs? (Devonne got this speech from her parents) Now how many teenage boys are told by their parents that they shouldn't be putting things in girls drinks? Or that "no means no" and that sexual contact without consent is always wrong? We don't think this conversation happens often if ever. Isn't there something wrong with this picture? Devonne isn't criticizing her parents for giving her this advice, in fact she follows it. If watching your drink and travelling in pairs will make you feel more comfortable and safe then by all means do it. What does deserve criticism however is the fact that our culture teaches women not to get raped but doesn't teach men not to rape. This is not only unfair but ineffective.

Photo by Francesca June, taken from http://www.artandsciencelab.com/

Before we get to far along, what exactly is sexual assault? Sexual assault is any form of sexual contact without voluntary consent. This can include forced kissing, fondling, vaginal or anal penetration, and oral sex. By this definition, there is no such thing as "asking for it" because it is non consensual. In North America, 1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime,  and 40% of those assaulted won't report the incident to police. 

Despite the widespread idea that the way women dress or act is a determining factor in their sexual assault, recent statistics have shown that this really isn't the case. 85% of sexual assaults are perpetrated by people known to the victim (StatsCan 1993), and 75% involve premeditation of some sort by the assailant.

Photo from facebook.com/PoliticalGutter

So clearly, our efforts to educate girls on "How Not to Get Raped" are ineffective against the majority of situations in which sexual assault occurs. Which then raises the question, why are we still teaching them? It's like teaching kids that the world is still flat when we know that it's round. Except that by teaching girls that it is their job to keep themselves from being raped, we inadvertently teach them that when they are raped it's their own fault. This is a huge part of why so many sexual assaults go unreported. Instead of creating campaigns where we tell women not to wear short skirts on the metro or campaigns where we tell women not to drink too much we need campaigns that define consent and tell people that sexual assault without consent is assault. The posters around the University of Alberta campus are a great example of this (see pictures below) as the focus on the definition of consent and the behaviour of perpetrators rather than of the potential victims. SAVE also has a great campaign.

http://www.sac.ualberta.ca/CreateChange.aspx

photo from http://www.sac.ualberta.ca/CreateChange.aspx

Victim blaming is not only very prevalent but it's extremely easy to do. When the topic of date rape came up at Devonne's work (due to a newspaper article someone had recently read) a female co-worker of hers said that if she ever found out Devonne was hanging out with "those kinds of boys" she would be in big trouble. Devonne didn't say anything about it at the time, but as she thought about it, she got kind of angry. Who exactly are "those kinds of boys?" Is there some flashing neon sign above their heads saying "DATE RAPIST" that she doesn't know about? Basically what this coworker is saying is that if Devonne some how missed the date rapist flags (and if you know what these are, please do tell,) it would be her fault and she would need to be punished. Because apparently being date raped wouldn't be punishment enough. As annoying as this was, it was most likely well-meaning. But this shows that there is a serious problem in that we believe that we need to lecture girls to not hang out with "those kinds of boys" rather than lecture boys about not being "those kinds of boys." It's not the offenders that would be in "big trouble," according to this coworker, it's the victims. And this coworker of Devonne's has an opinion that is shared by much of our society.

Slutwalk aims to raise awareness about this culture of victim blaming, and thereby end it. Once we start to teach not to rape, rather than to not get raped, we will be on the path to reducing the occurrences of sexual assaults. Whether someone is wearing a bra or a burqa, neither deserves to be raped. So if you agree that victim blaming is wrong, then please come to Edmonton's Slutwalk this Saturday. If you don't live in Edmonton, find out if there is one near you. If there isn't and you're feeling really ambitious, you could even start one yourself!

If you want more information on sexual assault you can visit www.ualberta.ca/sac or www.sac.ab.ca
Both the University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre and the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton offer support, information, and assistance to sexual assualt survivors and their supporters. The U of A Sexual Assault Centre provides drop-in or telephone crisis intervention and can be reached at 780-492-9771. The Sexual Assualt Centre of Edmonton operates a 24 hour crisis line at 780-423-4121.