On Jan. 24th, the Toronto Police Service held an information session on campus safety at York University.
As a safety tip, one of the officers suggested that women could avoid sexual assault by not dressing like a “slut.”
The comment caused uproar amongst advocacy groups and sexual assault survivors who felt the officer’s comment placed blame on the victim and caused some victims of sexual assault to be distrustful of police.
Advocates also pointed out that what a “slut” looks like is very subjective
The indignation towards the officer’s comment has resulted in numerous “Slut Walk” protests around the world, including Mexico City, New Delhi, Toronto, Hong Kong, Honduras and Brazil. More than six months later, the movement continues, and it was only a matter of time until San Francisco became a part of it.
“I’m a rape survivor, it happened to me when I was five. I wasn’t called a slut, but I was told it was my fault,” said Evelyn Ramirez, chief organizer of San Francisco’s Slut Walk, which took place last Saturday. “I needed to do this because I needed to quiet my own self-hatred.”
Now 29, Ramirez said she still struggles with the psychological repercussions of being raped.
“[I] spent a long time trying to get over the self-hate of thinking I had been responsible for such a horrible thing,” she said.
Ramirez would eventually tell her mother what happened to her as a child, and when she did, she learned that her mother had also been raped at the age of 5.
“It’s a very common problem for women of all races, all ages,” Ramirez said. “Unfortunately, it’s a bond that we share.”
According to some estimates, one in four women in the United States will experience some form of sexual assault in their lifetimes.
When longtime activist Jessica Hansen-Weaver heard about what happened in Toronto, and about the Slut Walks around the world, she wondered if one might be taking place in San Francisco. At the beginning of summer, she found the “Slut Walk” Facebook page, contacted Ramirez, and offered her help in organizing. And their work has yielded results; approximately 350 people participated in the march.
Demonstrators gathered at Dolores Park and marched to the Castro MUNI station—some wearing jeans and T-shirts, others wearing fishnets and lingerie.
“It was a success,” Hansen-Weaver said. “I was very happy (…) to see the diversity of people who came.”
She added that it was liberating to work in concert with other women to bring attention to a common female problem.
“[Usually] I’m concerned about it if I’m showing too much cleavage or too much leg because I don’t want to get negative attention, instead of thinking what I want to wear for myself,” she said.
Ramirez believes those concerns will soon be a thing of the past.
“Women of our generation don’t want to put up with that nonsense, that what you’re wearing invites sexual assault,” she said.