News

Not UniCol daytrip for once.

The international protest movement Slutwalk is coming to Dunedin, with the event scheduled to take place next Saturday.
 
The original Slutwalk protests were sparked by the comments of a Canadian police officer at a safety talk in Toronto, who stated "women should avoid dressing like sluts if they don't want to be victimised."
 
The movement calls for an end to "victim blaming" in sexual assaults, instead asking for the perpetrators to be held responsible. After successfully holding a Slutwalk in Toronto, the movement has spread to major cities around the world, and has now reached Dunedin.
 
The Slutwalk is “primarily about putting an end to victim-blaming and dispelling commonly held rape myths, but it is also about raising awareness of support services in Dunedin.”
 
“We are really excited about the march because victim-blaming is far too common in our community,” said Georgia Knowles, a Rape Crisis Dunedin Community Education Worker and one of the creators of Slutwalk Dunedin, “The event is a good way to raise awareness and challenge damaging ideas around rape; the focus of the Dunedin Slutwalk is to emphasis a person’s right to be free from violence regardless of what they wear or how they act.”
 
The Slutwalk Dunedin Facebook page had attracted over 500 attendees at the time Critic went to print, with a variety of commentators contributing their two cents to the event. One particularly unsavoury commentator chimed in with “Beth you are a fascist. I hope you get raped, biased slut.” Another post, from a presumably borderline illiterate female read “People aren’t free to express their own opinions. You lot are pussys. You guys need to be raped it might put you in your place. Sluts r just free prostitutes.”
 
The Dunedin Slutwalk is to take place Saturday August 13 at 12pm from the Museum lawn to the Octagon. The protest will consist of a walk and a rally at which “women, men, children of all different ages, ethnic backgrounds, and gender identities” are welcome. Guest speakers include Labour MP Clare Curran and representatives from Rape Crisis Dunedin and OUSA.
 

OUSA President Logan Edgar told Critic that he planned to attend the event in “fishnets and a push up bra. Maybe a bit of lace on the back of the bra?”