“However we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes, no means no!”
Protesters shouted this — among other chants — as they walked through downtown Ann Arbor on Saturday, October 22. The marchers were partaking in the SlutWalk, a national movement dedicated to raising awareness about rape culture and sexual assault. “I want to get attention to the problem, because not enough people think about it,” said Heather Cooper, University of Michigan sophomore and SlutWalk participant. Cooper, like many others, heard about the SlutWalk online, and expressed frustration with current discourse about sexual assault. “[People] think, ‘Oh, rape is something that happens in movies, T.V. shows and to someone I don’t know,’ but really it’s happened to my friends, it’s happened to my family. It happens, and people need to know that,” she said.
The crowd of almost 100 people marching through University of Michigan’s campus and downtown Ann Arbor expressed a common desire for social change around issues of gender inequality. They cited the vast number of unreported rapes and sexual assaults as an example of the current problematic climate surrounding the issue.
The FBI’s accepted definition of rape does not acknowledge victims in a wide variety of cases, such as rape with objects, rape of men or transgender people, or rape under the influence of alcohol or drugs. SlutWalk participants hoped to change the language used to address sexual assault so that legal policy recognizes victims not previously protected. At the end of the event, participants were invited to sign a letter to the head of the FBI supporting a new definition of rape that will be voted on in December.
The walks began in Toronto as a response to comments made by a police officer who told a group of students at York University that to avoid being raped, women simply shouldn’t dress like “sluts”. Though the officer has since apologized for his remarks, his statement spurred an international conversation about the current stigma surrounding victims of rape and sexual assault, with SlutWalks taking place all over the US and Canada.
Protesters on Saturday held signs with statements like “NO means NO,” “Stop victim blaming, no slut shaming,” and “By definition you cannot ask for rape,” which displayed the overarching message of the SlutWalk: there is no excuse — clothing, intoxication, location, et cetera — for rape or sexual assault.
