Blame the System Not the Victim

This summer thousands of women, and men, were seen all over the country taking to the streets dressed in revealing clothes to end rape culture and "slut-shaming."

SlutWalk has become a radically inclusive movement to end rape culture that was originally started in Toronto in response to a police officer who claimed, "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized." The officer's quote is an unfortunate example of the slut-shaming and victim-blaming that sexual assault victims are subject to on a regular basis. 

The marches originated in Toronto have spread all over the United States including in Chicago. This women' rights movement has grown exponentially more popular in the past few years. 

SlutWalk attendees focus on reclaiming the word "slut" to achieve autonomy over their sexuality. 

The article titled, "SlutWalk is Not Sexual Liberation" states that trying to reclaim the word "slut" is a waste of "precious feminist resources." It continues to claim that women who dress like sluts will be treated as such, and that encouraging women to be more "sluttish" will not solve the problem of victim-blaming. 

It is the people with this mindset that are the major issue in this women's' rights movement. The core principal of SlutWalk is the common slogan, "blame the system not the victim," which this article overlooks. The purpose is to fight against the idea that what women wear, what they drink, or how they behave can make them a target for rape. These activists are fighting to end the stigma related to the all too common validation of sexual assult.