Health permitting, this Saturday I will be speaking at the ‘Slutwalk’ in Birmingham city centre.
I will be taking part for one simple reason; there is no place in a civilised society for sexism and violence against women.
Birmingham women take to streets for “SlutWalk”
Jun 19 2011
by Ben Goldby,
Sunday Mercury
MORE than a hundred young women took to the streets of Birmingham for a “SlutWalk” rally yesterday.
Dressed provacatively and carrying signs proclaiming their right to show off their bodies, they are part of a controversial worldwide protest movement which began after a Canadian policeman allegedly told women to stop dressing like “sluts” to avoid being raped.
Thousands of members of SlutWalk have already marched in cities across the US and Canada and following a Facebook campaign scores of Midland students brought their protest to Birmingham’s Centenary Square on Saturday.
The “slutwalkers” say they want to demonstrate against a “culture where victims of rape are blamed rather than rapists.”
Sara Jane Russell, 37, a member of the planning group for the Birmingham SlutWalk said: “We are reclaiming the word ‘slut’ so it can’t be used to blame and shame.”