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Red Deer SlutWalk a chance to advocate for victims

The words of one Toronto police officer in 2011 provided the impetus for a movement that has since spread globally.
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Photo by MYLES FISH/Advocate staff

The words of one Toronto police officer in 2011 provided the impetus for a movement that has since spread globally.

On Saturday, the SlutWalk came to Red Deer for the first time.

Toronto hosted the first SlutWalk in 2011 after a police officer, speaking to university students, suggested “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”

The derogatory term was then taken up by two women who organized the first march in order to shift the perception that rape or sexual assault can somehow be justified in any case.

Saturday evening’s walk around Red Deer College in the snow was organized by four social work students at the college as part of a class assignment.

They saw the walk as a perfect opportunity to advocate against victim blaming in society.

“The more research we started putting into it, the more we realized how often these kinds of crimes happen, and the least reported crimes are rapes.

“And if there are police and authority figures with ideas of women provoking the rape, people wonder why it’s not reported. We wanted to get together and speak out against it,” explained organizer Amber Pidhirney.

The walk’s name is controversial, with some arguing that to accept and adopt the word ‘slut’ sends the wrong message.

But the organizers said the name helps bring attention to the issue by drawing people’s interest.

The name did cause the organizers some headaches locally though.

“All of the local organizations we went to, before hearing our name, sounded interested in supporting us, providing coffee, after-walk snacks or something like that,” explained fellow organizer Chace Lang, “But once they heard our name they changed their minds.”

Lang was one of a half-dozen men among the 20-odd walk participants. He said more discussion about sexual assault is needed in Red Deer.

“I believe people choose to ignore it locally; out of sight, out of mind. If they don’t hear about it — it doesn’t happen directly to them — then it doesn’t happen at all,” he said.

Ashley Fleming cannot ignore the issue, because it is a reality in her work as an outreach worker with the Central Alberta AIDS Network Society.

She said it is too often a fact of life for the street workers she meets with.

Speaking to walkers after the march, Fleming told the story of finding one street worker on a range road in the county this winter, lacking proper winter attire. A john had left the woman out there after raping her, holding a knife to her throat, and taking her gloves and toque.

What shocked Fleming is when speaking to the abused woman afterwards, the woman said, “I’m okay. It happens.”

“The fact that this mentality is so deeply entrenched that a victim could believe they deserved it is just sad and disgusting,” said Fleming.

“No one is ever asking for it; no one ever deserves it. But if we don’t talk to each other about that, it’s never going to change,” she added.

mfish@www.reddeeradvocate.com