http://slutmeansspeakup.org.uk/

Donate to SlutWalk 2012!

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:37:00 -0500

Donate to SlutWalk 2012!:

Please donate here to SlutWalk London 2012! We still need to raise over £2,000 for the sound system, permits etc. Even a couple of quid will go a long way. Donating will mean you’re helping put on a really amazing and empowering event. Donations are via PayPal, which will keep your details safe. Please share this round!

To those who have been asking, as soon as we have a date for the walk we will put it on this website. The sooner we have the money we need the sooner we will know, so please donate!

For anyone who wants to share it round the donate link is http://bit.ly/slutwalk2012donate

Please put it out on twitter, facebook, email, etc.

Vigil and Lobby against Welfare Reform Bill

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:12:04 -0500

Please join Single Mothers’ Self Defence and WinVisible (Women With Visible and Invisible Disabilities) at their vigil and lobby of parliament against the Welfare Reform Bill. On Tuesday the Welfare Reform Bill is being debated in the House of Lords. This is a vital opportunity to persuade the Lords to make key amendments which could stop some of the most harmful aspects of the bill.

1-3pm, Tuesday 14th February

Old Palace Yard, Abingdon St. SW1, opposite the Houses of Parliament

Why oppose the Welfare Reform Bill?

Poverty makes us more vulnerable to rape and domestic violence, stopping women, children and other abuse victims from leaving partners as they are financially dependent on them. The introduction of universal credit, which in many cases will mean that benefits are paid to a couple as a whole, the cuts to child benefit and a reduction in the benefits paid to individuals, will make women more open to abuse as partners control our money. Disabled women won’t be entitled to employment support allowance if their partner is employed, making an already vulnerable group of people even more open to intimidation and abuse.

The Global Women’s Strike has set out the implications of the bill for women and children:

Cuts to child benefit – Child Benefit must remain universal – it should not be paid according to income. We all deserve the security of money we can call our own to support our children, including when the father is violent or uncaring.

The benefit cap. Already, as housing benefit doesn’t cover all housing costs, many of us go without food or heating to make sure the rent is paid so we don’t end up on the street. Extortionate rents by greedy landlords greatly inflate the housing benefit bill. Cap the landlords, not us! Families of colour forced to move to white areas have been under siege in their own home from horrendous racist attacks, including against children.

Abolition of the Social Fund - the Fund is a lifeline to women and children fleeing domestic violence, ill and disabled people leaving hospital including those with mental illness, and newly-released prisoners, enabling them to set up a new home. People increasingly rely on this fund in emergencies. The government is shedding responsibility for vulnerable people, passing it to local councils with no legal duty to help and no ring-fenced funds. How many more women and children will fall prey to sexual and other violence from partners, fathers or step-fathers they cannot leave because they are dependent on them for food or shelter?

Cuts to disability and carers’ benefits. Sick and disabled people, and carers, need financial and housing security to survive. Cuts to Employment Support Allowance will mean that disabled people with a partner will receive no ESA at all, making them more dependent and more vulnerable to attack. Fears for the future are making mothers of disabled children sick with worry; this is having a terrible impact on the children. Psychiatrists and other professionals warned about this in May.

Oppose the abolition of Disability Living Allowance which will deprive an estimated 700,000 disabled people of benefit, including who use the money to manage in waged work. The concession allowing people in residential homes to claim the mobility component, does not change this.

If you can’t come to the vigil please write to a Lord or to your MP asking them to oppose the bill.

"[After the second time I was raped] I could already feel the disgust of society weighing on me. I..."

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:38:00 -0500

“[After the second time I was raped] I could already feel the disgust of society weighing on me. I slowly began to gather my belongings up, and stumble to the taxi rank. Upon arrival, I was not greeted with concern or worry but the few people that were there, but rather a disapproving look as I stood there my top and skirt ripped, looking like a true slut. The victims of this atrocious act, do blame themselves because of it I know I did. I thought, maybe if my skirt was a couple of inches longer, my top a couple of inches higher, this would not of happened. No use come of this way of thinking, I became a shadow of who I used to be I never went out I was scared to wear anything that was to revealing. Until, one day my Mum had finally had enough. She walked into my room where I was curled up on my bed pretending to read the latest magazine, and she said you can’t carry on like this. You are letting them win! You are no longer a victim rather a survivor, you need to get up and show the world that this behaviour is not ok, otherwise so many other girls will go through what you went through. She was right. I did not want others to suffer like I had done. Now I am hoping to help you.”

- Diary of a “Slut”: A society branded “slut” ready to tell her side of the story.

This is the blog of a rape survivor who, after having survived multiple attacks, now wants to help others. This is what she says: ‘I beg of you if your are sitting there holding in a secret like this or any other secrets that you feel you can not tell anyone else as you fear discrimination or judgement, email me, it will help you transform from a Victim to a Survior - [email protected]’

Slut Means Speak Up are making a film against victim blaming.

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:21:00 -0500

The Slutwalk London team are making a film to change attitudes about sexual assault, counter victim-blaming and provide legal and practical advice for rape survivors. The current ‘advice’ given to women by the police and teachers focuses on our behaviour: not to go out by ourselves, get drunk or wear ‘slutty’ clothes. We are looking for people who have experienced sexual assault to come on camera to talk about the blame they experienced, whether from the police, people close to them or from themselves - and how they have overcome and fought against it. Not only will this force people to change their views about who is to blame for rape, but it will inspire others who have been silenced and victimised.

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, or if you have challenged victim blaming in any way - for example, by speaking up against victim blaming by your friends, teachers or the police - we would like to hear from you and will try our best to include you in the film. Please don’t hesitate to contact us; everyone’s voices are welcome and we would like to include as many different experiences as possible.

Are you interested? The next step…
Please contact us at [email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected] to talk about participating. This will help us see how we can include you in the film. We can give you more information about the film, and arrange a time and date for filming.

More information…
You will not have to reveal your name, age or any other personal details. The interviews will take around 10 minutes; if you feel uncomfortable at any point we will stop filming and there is no pressure on you to say anything you don’t want to say. We will need you to write down a few basic points of what you’re going to say beforehand, and to travel to a location in London to be filmed (if this is very difficult for you we could help with travel costs or travel to where you live instead). If you are uncomfortable being on camera there are ways in which we can make you anonymous, such as filming you from behind or as a silhouette.

Are you from an organisation?
We are also planning to include legal and practical advice in the film. This will include basic pointers on what victims can do after an attack to feel safer, advice on going to the police and on taking a case to court. If you are from an organisation (including student organisations) which supports victims of sexual assault, whether you provide counselling, crisis help or legal advice, please contact us and we will do our best to include your experience and advice in the film.

We are making this film together with Women Against Rape, Black Women’s Rape Action Project and the English Collective of Prostitutes.

Protest: Just say no to Dorries' abstinence education bill!

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:35:00 -0500

Friday 20th January, 10.30am-12.30pm, The Houses of Parliament (Old Palace Yard, Abingdon Street, SW1P 3JY) - Map here, nearest tube Westminster. Facebook invite here

On 20 January 2012, Nadine Dorries’ proposed amendment to sex education, Bill 185, which suggests GIRLS be taught abstinence, is due to get a second reading in parliament. Slut Means Speak Up will be speaking at this planned protest against the bill, together with Women Against Rape and Black Women’s Rape Action Project, who were involved in organising SlutWalk last June.

We will be at this protest because we know that abstinence-only sex education will be incredibly harmful to rape survivors. We know that the girls being taught to ‘just say no’ in school will become the women being accused of not saying ‘no’ loudly enough when they were raped. We know that the girls taught that sex must remain an unspoken subject will become the rape survivors who are too ashamed to share their experiences and find healing. We know that the girls being taught that there is no such thing as consensual sex will become the women who are unable to recognise, report and fight against rape.

UPDATE 20/01 - The bill has been withdrawn! Thank you so much to everyone who came to the protest.

Run a student group? Want to challenge victim-blaming and slut-shaming? Here are 20 tips on how to effectively run a sex-positive, anti-rape feminist society:

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:07:47 -0500

Don’t alienate, educate. Not everyone identifies as a feminist, or actively tackles sexism. Many people don’t know what feminism really is. If you feel people at your university/college don’t understand feminism, don’t allow yourself to become a clique – hold discussions, organise meetings, and make sure the message is out there: ‘if you don’t like sexism, you’re welcome here’.
Be inclusive, anti-racist and pro-sex workers’ rights. Be public in this stance, and actively seek out any organisations local to you which deal with racism and discrimination against sex workers. Don’t wait for them to come to you.
Invite speakers from local organisations, or from further afield. For example, Black Women’s Rape Action Project, the English Collective of Prostitutes and Women Against Rape, who helped to organise Slutwalk London and spoke at the event (rather brilliantly, I must say), would be glad to speak - as long as you can cover their travel they’ll be there. If you find there are differences among organisations, ask them to speak at a public debate, so people can make up their own minds.
Organise a speak out, where individuals can speak out about their experiences of rape and other violence. The NUS has found that a shocking amount of students have experienced some form of sexual assault, and that only a tiny percentage tell anyone or see a doctor. Events like these can help change that. (Click here to read the NUS report).
Root your demands for change in women’s experiences, and target the authorities who have the resources and power to change things. Slutwalk London publicised the dismal UK conviction rate for reported rape of 6.5%. Thousands of rape and sexual assault survivors used the occasion to speak about what happened to them – not just their fury at their attacker but at how the authorities (the police, Crown Prosecution Service, courts, local authorities, medical staff, housing officials . . .) were dismissive, hostile, blamed them and sabotaged their efforts to get their attacker brought to justice. Look at what demands and campaigns can come from those experiences to challenge and hold the authorities to account.
As far as we at SMSU are concerned, feminist and gender-equality groups should welcome everyone. Including men. Women-only groups/meetings have a time and a place, and that should be respected, but men should not think that this is a ‘women’s issue’ that has nothing to do with them. Patriarchy affects us all, and if we want real change, we need everyone on board.
Some feminist groups are also cis-women only. Don’t be one of those groups. Just. Don’t be. It is hateful, pure and simple. And hating minorities is not what feminism should be about.
Make sure that feminist issues are top of your SU’s agenda. Give ‘em hell. If the lighting is poor on campus, protest. Make it policy that students are given free rape alarms. Push for the NUS’s campaign against sexual harassment. Challenge sexism in SU publications, and investigate your union’s sponsors (Dominoes has a particularly troubling track-record – Exeter I’m looking at you). Get your union to affiliate with pro-sex worker, anti-racism and anti-sexism groups. You could even get them to affiliate to us!
Go to the NUS women’s conference – learn from the other women, but also call them out on racism and anti-sex worker sentiment when you see it.
Run for sabbatical positions! We need more feminist student unions. You can make that happen.
Join the anti-cuts movement. At the moment it’s visibly white, male & not very feminist. Remind groups that women are the first to suffer under this government, and that Black, immigrant and other groups facing racism and other prejudice are the hardest hit, while being ignored when they campaign. Support your local rape crisis centre and/or sexual assault referral centre when local cuts come around. Make the economic connections clear – (student) poverty makes women more vulnerable to sexual violence.
Fundraise. Organise a gig, have a raffle, go down the oh-so-traditional and yet oh-so-delicious route of the bake sale. Raise money for yourself and other organisations, here in the UK and abroad. Fundraise for the next Slutwalk London – we’ll need around three grand to pull off another one, and there’s certainly a lot of people keen to come again!
Circulate information about practical help, like the Women Against Rape’s self-help guide available free at: www.womenagainstrape.net/resource/self-help-guide-survivors-rape-and-sexual-assault (or order a paper copy), or make your own.
Keep your members updated on what’s going on in the world. Write a regular newsletter. Set up a feminist zine and get your fellow students to contribute. Who knows, it could be the next Bitch!
Set up anti-rape groups, self-help groups, support groups for victims of racist and sexist abuse, and make sure that all the local and university-based support services are widely publicised.
Organise your own Slutwalk, and/or a Reclaim the Night march. The great thing about events like these is you can make them specific to your local community as well as to the international issue of victim-blaming. Is your local council openly anti-women? Are your street lights being switched off? Incorporate it into your march and bring it to the attention of the locals in an inventive and exciting way.
Encourage students to write to the local papers – they will print them if you make a good argument and/or write from personal experience. This can help shape public debate and make your demands for change visible.
Send us details of your upcoming events! We’ll share them online with fellow SMSU supporters.
Make sure that you record your events – film them, take pics and write reports to publicise
what you have achieved (respecting participants who want to remain anonymous). Let us know what you’re up to, too, and we’ll share it with followers of SMSU. Publicise anything you achieve – we’re all used to bad news, make sure your good news travels!
Most importantly, stand up for what you believe in, never back down when you know you’re right but admit it when you’re wrong & be proud of your achievements. Go out there and shake things up. Goodness knows the feminist movement needs it.

- Caitlin & The Crossroads Women’s Centre

The charges against Sheila Farmer have been dropped!

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:56:11 -0500

Ms Farmer’s trial was thrown out because of police and prosecution incompetence – witnesses had not been asked to attend court and a key witness could not be found. Ms Farmer has attended court six times and the case has been listed to start on two previous occasions. (from a statement by the English Collective of Prostitutes).

Sheila has written in the Guardian today: Life is hard enough for prostitutes without our work being criminalised

“It’s enough for two prostitutes to live or work together for us to be illegal. I worked alone. Within months, I was attacked, raped repeatedly, tied up, held hostage, and nearly strangled. I gave evidence against my attacker but he got off. I suffered years of nightmares and panic attacks and decided never to work alone again. Using my prostitution earnings I trained for five years to become a counsellor, only to have my chances of getting a job scuppered by a CRB check exposing my prostitution.

By this time I was working with friends because it was safer. That’s when I suffered my second major attack. We were robbed at gunpoint by a gang who had targeted hundreds of flats in the south of England. Most victims would not go to the police for fear of being prosecuted. Despite threats to my life and my flat being petrol bombed, I gave evidence and was commended by the judge for my bravery.

We moved to another flat and within a few months were raided. I was arrested and charged with brothel-keeping. I decided to fight the case as my tumour is now malignant and my time is running out. Who has a right to judge me?”

This amazing victory is due to the work of the English Collective of Prostitutes, who continue to campaign tirelessly for the welfare and safety of women like Sheila. Thank you so much to everyone who supported her, even if it was just to read about her case. A little public scrutiny makes a huge difference, meaning that unjust prosecutions like this one cannot go through. We ask that you continue to support the English Collective of Prostitutes in their work. You can do so by signing their petition to decriminalise sex work and prioritise safety.

A disabled sexual assault survivor speaks out: "I had fantastic support and still felt to blame"

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 09:13:00 -0500

[trigger warning: description of sexual assault]

It was a Sunday, at about 5pm in 2003, at Derby station, and I was waiting on a platform when I clocked a guy walk past me a few times. I remember thinking it was odd because it was like he was literally circling me, and he was quite close. Typically British I didn’t really think anything of it, and thought that when the train got in, I could get on and wouldn’t see him again.

As the train pulled in and I went to get on, he was behind me all of a sudden. I always went for 2 seats on their own, and did again, but when I got near, he followed me in, oddly saying ‘you first’ despite me being in front. I still thought that it would be an awkward journey rather than dangerous and just started to look out the window rather than talk to him. I can’t really remember how long it was before he spoke, or what order he said things. I think he started by showing me some new trainers and then telling me of a club in Nottingham which wouldn’t let him in because he had the trainers on and because he was drunk.

I remember feeling uncomfortable how much anger he was showing about something insignifcant. He then showed me 2 peoms he’d written, I can’t remember the first but the second one terriefied me from the start. It was basically about a woman he saw from a distance in a club, he decided he wanted this woman and nothing would stop him. When he got close to her, he saw she had a wedding ring on, but believed that she only wore it as a flirtation, to encourage him to try harder. He told me that he had written it as he felt some women did things like that.

I can’t remember whether it was the poem, or him, which went on to tell me that he would treat her as badly (sexually) as he wanted and she would have deserved it, even secretly wanted it. I remember starting to feel really uneasy, I hadn’t really said anything by this time, I’d been looking out the window most of the time. A conductor came round and I felt an enourmous sense of wanting to get his attention, coupled with an enourmous sense of fear of annoying this man. I’m almost ashamed to say that I showed my ticket and let the conductor pass.

The guy then put his face close to mine and tried to kiss me, I turned my face to the window and caught my reflection, which was crying. He put his hand on my knee, and I tried clenching my legs together, he moved his hand further up my knee and between my legs untill he was touching me, I’d been saying no, probably too quietly as stupidly I didn’t want to make a fuss, and he said ‘you haven’t got any arms, you can’t do anything about this’. I haven’t mentioned my disability before as it has never been an issue, but this made it one.

We must have pulled into Nottingham around about then, I asked to leave as it was my stop, he got up but then gathered his things saying he was getting off too. I saw a woman get up about my age (I’d have been 22) and I moved as quickly as I could to her, still not really wanting to draw attention and I got to be stood behind her just a fraction before he got behind me, but before I could say anything, he put his arm round me and thrust his groin into me. I guess (apart from my tears) we just looked like a couple. He kept his arm round me till we got to the concourse, before we got there I saw two police officers walking in the opposite direction but again was scared to do anything.

I didn’t want to leave the station with him anywhere near so said I needed to get some tickets for an ongoing journey, he told me he was going for a drink, told me where and even invited me for a drink before kissing me on the cheek and saying how nice it was to meet me. I watched him leave then jumped a taxi home. I don’t know why I didn’t go to find the police, or tell anyone on the station, I just wanted to get home.

I didn’t tell anyone for a few days, I didn’t leave home actually. In the end I told a friend who encouraged me to go to the police. I finally did, and got an incredibly supportive response from them. I gave information over the phone then two officers came to take a statement later that day. One of the officers asked me what I was wearing on the day and I remember feeling glad I had been wearing jeans, a jumper and a long coat. I voiced my worries to the officer about how glad I was I wasn’t wearing something that could have been interpreted as ‘asking for it’, and the police man (I’ll always be thankful of this) admitted that whilst clothing was important in the court room, whatever I had been wearing would not ever give someone the right to feel they could take what they want. This policeman coincidentally turned out to be the one I had seen at the train station whilst I was with the guy.

They took a really detailed statement, reasurred me that none of it was my fault and left, promising to keep in touch. Asd they left, they told me they suspected who it was, he had really identifable tattos on his face, and knew where he often was. I heard from them again a few weeks later, they had arrested the man they suspected and had gone to his flat with a warrant where they found the trainers he told me about, and also the poems. He was arrested and charged and they said I’d be advised of any court processes as he was pleading not guilty so I would have to give evidence.

I got a letter from Witness Care with proposed dates etc but then heard nothing for 2 years. In that time, I had moved house, graduated, changed jobs etc, and one day in 2005, I received a call from the policeman who took my statement. He said that the guy had fled the coutry to India, he tried to enter the UK again and was arrested for my indecent assault, I never really found out why noone told me he’d fled. In credit to the policeman though, he had tried calling me at my old address, and somehow tracked down my Mums address who gave him my number, again I’ll always be grateful that he took the effort to find me. The guy changed his plea to guilty and was later sentenced to 4 years imprisonment and put on the sex offenders register indefinately. I received confirmation of this in writing, I remember thinking it was odd that it was the first time I found out his name.

At this time, I was contacted by victim support, they came and took information from me to be used in licence conditions, everything seemed perfectly sensible untill the lady asked if I’d like an exclsuion zone to be given to him so he couldn’t enter specified areas. She thankfully discouraged me from taking this as she said he would then be told my full name and part of my address so he knew where to avoid!!

Looking back, I find the whole thing really tough, but not for the most obvious reasons. I only remember small details, I remember what I was wearing, and things he said, but can’t even remember what month it was, let alone the date. I remember the physical aspect didn’t disgust me as much as his use of my disability against me. I never told many people what he said, just what he did, because he is about the only person who has ever left me feeling vulnerable for my disability, and it isn’t something I care to admit. I don’t remember his name, its something I tried to do intentionally. I’m not really sure why, I think it made it more real to attribute it to a person. I alse remember the importance of small things, such as how I was treated by the police. And I remember asking my sister what would happen if I gave evidence and he was still found not guilty. She said that him being found not guilty didn’t make me guilty. That single point is something I struggled with, I never made peace with the fact that people wouldn’t believe I had in some way, instigated it.

I had fantastic, and full support from everyone involved and still felt to blame. I still feel angry that it happened, but I find it harder to think people (men and women) don’t always get treated as well as I did, and don’t get enough support. My experience was relatively minor, I can’t imagine how people cope when they feel they are not only taking on their attacker, but also the system. It’s tough enough as it is.

Pageant of the Bizarre: a fundraiser for SlutWalk London...

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 09:17:00 -0400

Pageant of the Bizarre: a fundraiser for SlutWalk London 2012

RSVP: Facebook

Announcing SlutWalk London 2012

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:36:00 -0400

Slutwalk London: The radical notion that nobody deserves to be raped.

On 11th June 2011, SlutWalk came to London. Thousands of people of all races, genders, sexualities, classes and occupations came together to protest the silencing of our voices, the repression of our choices and the violence against our bodies. The word ‘slut’ carries a history of assault, shaming, insults and degradation, where people are forced to remain silent about their assault through a society and legal system which all too often places the blame on the victim. But those who came to SlutWalk were far from silent and ashamed. As much as SlutWalk was a direct challenge to the attitudes and practises which allow rape to continue in society, it was a celebration of our bodies, identities and choices, and an affirmation of our commitment to continuing the long struggle towards a world without assault.

Today, we are asking you to join with us for SlutWalk 2012. We need to continue the pressure we have put on those who would allow sexual assault and victim blaming to continue and welcome the silencing of those who are raped. The courts and police stations are still dismissing people’s reports of assault, losing crucial evidence or twisting the facts to render the victim responsible for their own assault - while as many as 95% of cases go unreported. In a worsening economic climate, people are being made more vulnerable to sexual violence by poverty, unemployment and drastic cuts to services - whether they be youth services, rape crisis centres or benefits to disabled people. Sex workers - a group especially vulnerable to sexual assault - still live in fear of reporting sexual assault lest they be persecuted by police or lose their livelihood through the closing of premises. Undocumented immigrants are still unable to report sexual assault for fear of imprisonment and deportation, making them easily exploitable. Sexual assault is often ignored or misunderstood in LGBTQ communities, where people face intrusive scrutiny over how they express themselves. We are asking you to join with us to continue fighting against sexual assault, slut shaming and victim blaming - and to recognise the racism, homophobia and class oppression which leave us more vulnerable.

There is one unifying factor in the language of those who are anti-woman and pro-rape: rape doesn’t happen. We were asking for it. We changed our minds the next morning. We were lying to get one over on our attackers. Men ‘can’t’ be raped. It wasn’t ‘proper’ rape. We deserved it. We secretly enjoyed it. Our partner did it, so it doesn’t count. We were dressed in such a way to be responsible for the violence. SlutWalk came out of a long movement against this attitude, and our voices are louder and clearer than ever. We invite you to march with us again in 2012, and organise with us in the months leading up to the march. We will not be silenced.

Please come to our fundraiser for SlutWalk 2012, Pageant of the Bizarre: 11th November 2011 at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern

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Statements from our supporters and from organisations we work with:

“I am marching because my best friend still thinks that her rape was her fault, because the authorities never looked into it, and because it will always haunt her. And that is not okay.” - anonymous supporter

“We are not victims. We were victims, for a moment in time. Now, we are survivors.” - Emily Jacob, supporter

“Whatever I wear, however I act, as a woman, there is always the possibility that I will be deemed a ‘slut’” - Rosa, supporter

“Believe it or not, not one of us is dressing for anyone other than ourselves.” - Kelly, supporter

“I will be on the Slutwalk to help make visible the many ways in which we women of colour have been abused by those who want to justify our rape and exploitation. In the UK and across the globe, women of colour face racist and sexist violence. Women of African descent have always been considered sex objects, perpetually available to white men. The police are too often not responsive to any rape survivors, but even less so if we are women of colour. I’ll be marching along with other Black and immigrant sisters, with white sisters, and with men who support us, to break down the barriers which divide us. Either we are all sluts or none of us is.” - Cristel Amiss, Black Women’s Rape Action Project

“Since 1976 we have been campaigning for all rape to be taken seriously. The anti-rape movement has shifted public opinion and won changes to the rape law and to prosecution policies. But implementation is still appalling. Only 6.5% of reported rape leads to a conviction. While most rapists get away with it, we face an increasing trend towards jailing rape victims accused of lying after a negligent and biased investigation into their rape. The organisers of Slutwalk London are determined that this movement be inclusive and make concrete demands.” - Women Against Rape

“How many of us have been unable to report violent attacks for fear of criminalisation, deportation or losing our anonymity? How many of us have been told by police we will be disbelieved and even arrested if we report? How many of us have been prosecuted when we did report while our attackers went free? We face criminalisation for trying to make a living and moralism from women who call themselves feminists, who claim that all prostitution is violence against women and that all immigrant sex workers are trafficked. Whether on the street or in premises, we are being driven further underground and into more danger. SlutWalk is another confirmation that people are really with us for an end to criminalisation and poverty everywhere.” - English Collective of Prostitutes

“All over the world women experience sexual violence, displacement, torture, feminicide and kidnap but the needs, realities, experiences and perspectives of women are often excluded from consideration. When women’s voices are not heard, women’s needs are ignored. When women are marginalised and excluded from power, men think it’s okay to say things like ‘women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised.’ We believe that you can’t build peace by leaving half of the people out. No women, no peace.” - Chitra Nagarajan, No Women No Peace

“As disabled people, as children, we are vulnerable to violence from people we know, in the family and in institutions. We are not supposed to have a sex life, but we are often sexually exploited by the men around us. Did we provoke it? Did we dress like sluts? As women with disabilities, as single mothers, we have fought to have an income – so that we are not at the mercy of partners and family for our survival. That is being taken away from us. We are being driven back into dependence by the cuts in benefits, housing and services.” - WinVisible (Women With Visible and Invisible Disabilities)

“In Britain, the release of an official report declaring that girls are being too “sexualised” has coincided with parliamentary lobbies for young women to be “taught to say no”. Join the dots with police officers telling women that “no” is insufficient if they happen not to be dressed like a nun and an ugly picture begins to form. Young women, in particular, are expected to look hot and available at all times, but if we dare to express desires of our own, we are mocked, shamed and threatened with sexual violence, which, apparently, has nothing to do with the men who inflict it and everything to do with the length of skirt we have on. Now, more than ever, it’s time for “sluts” to walk - and walk tall.” - Laurie Penny

Anastasia, a co-organiser of Slutwalk London, speaks to the...

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:52:43 -0400

Anastasia, a co-organiser of Slutwalk London, speaks to the crowd

(by SlutwalkLondon)

Slutwalk London video (by Patricia Vilani) - this is fantastic!

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:16:14 -0400

Slutwalk London video (by Patricia Vilani) - this is fantastic!

Cristel speaking at Slutwalk London on behalf of Black...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:06:12 -0400

Cristel speaking at Slutwalk London on behalf of Black Women’s Rape Action Project.

Caitlin’s poem from Slutwalk. More footage hopefully to...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:53:18 -0400

Caitlin’s poem from Slutwalk. More footage hopefully to come!

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Sun, 10 Jul 2011 05:57:57 -0400

Our protest outside the Crown Prosecution Service - (trigger...

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:38:40 -0400

Our protest outside the Crown Prosecution Service - (trigger warning for discussion of sexual assault)

On 1st July Slut Means Speak Up, together with Women Against Rape, the English Collective of Prostitutes, WinVisible and the Black Women’s Rape Action Project, took to the streets to picket the Crown Prosecution Service. We demanded an end to the unjust and misogynistic treatment of those who report rape only to be derided, shamed and blamed by the police and courts, and demanded protection for the sex workers who the legal system prosecutes for working together for safety, preventing them from reporting sexual violence.

We came together to protest the 6.7% rape conviction rate, the attack on women by the legal system and the criminalisation of sex workers - but statistics and legal reports come nowhere near to explaining the anger and pain that rape victims and sex workers feel at the hands of a legal system which claims to protect us - but instead protects our attackers. Almost everyone at this rally felt empowered to take the microphone to speak about their own experiences - from a sex worker who had been harassed by police on the streets of Paris, to a man who asked the police to act on the sexual grooming of his thirteen year old daughter only to find himself facing an accusation of harassment against police staff, to a woman who held up a picture of her battered face taken after her rape, to a young woman who spoke of the harassment and ridicule young women reporting sexual assault face from the police. A speaker from Women Against Rape told of a case where a man had filmed the woman during his rape of her. At great risk to herself, the woman managed to obtain the video and take her attacker to court - where she was then shown the video in the courtroom. She broke down crying and the judge said that the case was ‘too traumatic’ and put it ‘on file’ - which means that there is no chance of re-opening the case to win justice for this woman in the future.

Niki Adams, from the English Collective of Prostitutes, spoke of the case of Sheila Farmer - a sex worker who reported a gang which had been roaming the area and attacking women, only to find herself on trial for working together with other sex workers for safety. The police charged her with brothel keeping, raided her flat and confiscated her possessions. We were also there to support two women, both mothers, imprisoned for making so-called ‘false allegations’: Gail Sherwood, who was found half naked in a remote field, her hands tied above her head, visibly suffering from shock - yet the police called her ‘a sad, lonely 50-year old who couldn’t get a man and had made it all up’ and lost key evidence. The other is Leyla Ibrahim, a woman who claimed she was attacked on January 4th, 2009. Her mother reports that ‘she scrubbed herself in the shower until she was practically bleeding. She forced her brother to sit in her room with her so she was not alone’ after her assault, and an expert medical witness claimed that it was ‘unlikely’ that her injuries were self inflicted - yet she is now in prison for making a ‘false allegation’ of rape. And a young woman spoke of her rape in her flat at the hands of a friend, which the police told her was her fault for letting the man into her flat. These are real people with real experiences and real anger. We cannot be covered up and silenced by government reports which admit the ‘regrettable’ state of rape prosecutions but take no action, or by the rape apologists who claim that women were either lying or “asking for it”. Our voices are loud and our demands clear.

For a long time rape has been something which our police, law officials and government have been happy to force behind closed doors. Either evidence is lost or badly handled, or her clothes, sexual history, age or skin colour mean that it was not rape and she was in fact “asking for it”, or “men can’t get raped” or it is not “proper” rape - too ‘complicated’ for the attacker to be held to account, as Ken Clarke says - or the woman must be lying. But on the 1st of July we were angry and determined to be heard as our words echoed loudly through the street - giving the Crown Prosecution Service no choice but to listen. Rape - the private pain of the individual - is being transformed into the public protest of the survivor as people of all genders, races and backgrounds come together to insist that we are protected and treated fairly by the law which claims to be accountable to us - yet refuses to protect society’s most vulnerable people.

The success of this demonstration mean that it is likely we will hold another one in the near future so watch this space! Thank you so much to everyone who came and made it such a powerful protest and such a powerful celebration of our refusal to be victimised and intimidated by those who claim to protect us - we hope to see you again and to anyone who couldn’t make it, we hope that soon you will join your voice to ours.

Photo: Niki Adams

More photos of the event can be found here and here.

Anastasia

Poster for our picket of the Crown Prosecution Service this...

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:08:30 -0400

Poster for our picket of the Crown Prosecution Service this Friday!

While only 6.7% of rape cases end in conviction, women who come forward with rape cases are imprisoned for making so-called ‘false allegations’. Police intimidate survivors, lose evidence and refuse to take rape cases seriously. Juries judge whether a woman was raped by the length of her skirt and Ken Clarke, the Secretary of State for Justice, does not consider all rape to be ‘serious’. If we don’t speak up now these injustices will continue. Rapists will continue to walk free, women will be harassed, victimised and raped and only meet with shame and derision from the courts, and mothers will continue to be put into prison for being brave enough to speak up against their attackers. Speak up with us - we’ve had enough of a legal system which claims to protect us, but instead protects our attackers!

PICKET THE CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE - Friday 1st July - 1pm - Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE19HS

Facebook Invite: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=108529105906296

Poster: http://bit.ly/m4qpTY

ilovecharts: “Rape Crisis Scotland postcard campaign to...

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:31:11 -0400

ilovecharts:

“Rape Crisis Scotland postcard campaign to challenge attitudes to rape. With grateful thanks to the creator of the breast-feeding chart from which it was adapted”

-Eileen Maitland

Just a heads up

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:32:43 -0400

We’re doing a bit of updating on the website at the moment, so please bear with us!

I was walking home from a play last night with a friend, and a drunk guy approached us and starting asking for a shag. We made it very clearly we weren't interested and carried on walking. He followed us. After making in clear once again that I wasn't going to sleep with him, he let us walk away, instead throwing a glass bottle at my head. When I turned round and confronted him, all he could say was "I just wanted a fuck!"
The worst thing was that when I got home, still reeling slightly, I told my parents, and all they could say was that because I was still wearing my costume, I was inviting the boy's behaviour by "looking like a prostitute" (I was simply wearing a short skirt and blouse).

I don't know why I felt the need to tell this story, but it was a very strange experience, having my own mother tell me that the boy was justified.

Slutwalk, keep doing what you're doing.

When I got home

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 07:13:56 -0400

Just in case anyone was still wondering why we need Slutwalk/Slut Means Speak Up.