Organizers of a rally held at the Alberta Legislature Saturday have been trying to change societal views around sexual violence.
Danielle Paradis said they march under the name Slutwalk in hopes of eliminating the negativity of the term.
“It’s a charged word because it’s used both by people to damage themselves and used by society to describe somebody who is stepping outside of the bounds of propriety,” she explained.
“The idea is what you wear does not equal consent.”
This is the third year that the march has been held in Edmonton but it is a movement that has been echoed worldwide, Paradis said.
Many of those that participated said they too hoped to bring about change.
“We’re tired of it. We’re all tired of it and we want to combat it,” Krista Ball said.
“The best way to combat it is to talk about it.”
“I think that some men think it’s totally okay because they are being provocative in their dress and that’s not okay,” Tomas Acuna added.
Paradis said the Slutwalk movement began after a presentation by a Toronto police officer at a crime prevention forum where the officer indicated the way women dressed leads some to be victimized.
With files from Nicole Weisberg
