SlutWalk Aotearoa: 2012 date confirmed

SlutWalk Aotearoa are very pleased to announce Sunday, May 20th 2012 as the confirmed date of their march and rally this year.

SlutWalk is an international movement that started in Toronto, Canada when a police officer stood up at a safety talk at York University and stated, “I’ve been told not to say this... but women should avoid dressing like sluts if they don’t want to be victimised.” SlutWalk Toronto was held on April 3rd, 2011. 4,000 women and men of all ages marched together to move against intolerance and towards education; to fight the myths around the types of people who are sexually assaulted, who is responsible, and why they occur. The controversial name was a direct response to the comments of this police officer. SlutWalk Toronto was a bold statement of ‘enough is enough’ that sparked satellite movements on every inhabited continent.

The inaugural SlutWalk Aotearoa was held on June 25th, 2011 in Wellington and Auckland, and attracted over 2,000 participants between the two cities. Our participants included all ages, all genders, all walks of life, and all manners of dress. We are thrilled that the level of support we received for our march and our message means that SlutWalk Aotearoa can now become an annual event. Not only is this the second annual SlutWalk march and rally in New Zealand, but this year SlutWalk Perth, Australia are also holding their rally on May 20th. We share several ties with SlutWalk Perth – one of their committee members is from New Zealand, and our Founder and Media Liaison, Maria-Jane Brodie, spoke at their rally last year – so we are thrilled to be marching in solidarity with them.

SlutWalk is about rallying to place the blame for sexual assault where it belongs: on the perpetrators. We are challenging the misconception that only a certain kind of person is at risk of sexual assault: anti-rape campaigns paint a picture of young, attractive, drunk women attacked by strangers, when these types of attacks are statistically in the minority – more than half of sexual abuse victims who reported to Rape Crisis said that the offender was a partner, family member or friend; 2% of attacks were attributed to someone the victim met on the night of the offence; just 3% were attributed to strangers. We also firmly stand behind the truth that sexual assault is not only something done by men to women, and that not all sexual assault is rape.

This year, we want to go bigger and better, with more cities around the country involved. If you would be interested in organising a satellite SlutWalk in your city on May 20th, please email your contact details to slutwalkaotearoa@gmail.com by Sunday, April 8th (Easter Sunday).

Aotearoa, please consider joining us on May 20th for our march. Join us in our mission to spread the word that those who experience sexual assault are not the ones at fault, without exception.

ENDS

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