Horrified at the reports of Toronto Police Force constable Michael Sanguinetti telling York students to “avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized?” This Sunday is the time to make your outrage known. SlutWalk Toronto is so named to emphasize the incredibly arbitrary nature of the term. As Heather Mallick points out in the Toronto Star, “it isn’t what you’re wearing that matters, it’s that cops, and indeed rapists, will assess you whatever you wear.”

Women will arrive to SlutWalk wearing precisely that, and march from Queen’s Park South to Police Headquarters. While remarks like Sanguinetti’s might seem innocuous, there is nothing more dangerous then the assumption that sexual assault is in any way provoked. This is an insidious social misconception that needs some serious shutting down.

In another Star article, Antonia Zerbisias quotes a provincial report, saying “sexual violence is about power and control, not sexual desire. It is about exerting power and aggression over someone else.” Victim blaming cultivates a perspective on rape that is detrimental and misleading, and on Sunday, SlutWalk hopes that a parade of women from all walks of life will emphasize that no one, no matter what their lifestyle, deserves to be a victim of sexual violence. 

SlutWalk Toronto 
Sunday, April 3rd. Speeches at 1:30 pm, walk at 2 pm.