Apparently SlutWalkers don't understand what they should be doing (says the Ottawa Sun)
In an article entitled "Slut walk anger misplaced" in Monday's Ottawa Sun (title has now been changed online to 'SlutWalk messages unclear'), Sun columnist Anthony Furey writes about how (he thinks) the walkers don't understand how to address the problem.
(( AND BEFORE I GET INTO IT - here are videos from the walk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoQX6frJTwo & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTsMuutzpmM ... and you can read someone else's take on Furey's piece here: http://keenanwellar.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/the-problem-with-having-a-problem-with-slutwalk/ ... and here's a list of some media coverage of the event: http://winottawa.org/1/post/2011/04/the-slutwalkers-have-spoken.html))
In what might be considered a condescending tone, he writes "Those of us who know victims of sexual assault understand the last people you want to alienate are the ones tasked with protecting you" (referring to how the best strategy is to 'build bridges' with the police and not to be"guilty of exactly the same fallacy the Toronto officer conducted" aka "using one instance to vilify an entire sector.")
((and as if 'those of us who know victims of sexual assault' are somehow a different group of people than those who walked on Sunday??? and how exactly was the Toronto police officer "using one instance to vilify an entire sector" when he said "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized."???))
Anyways, apparently according to Furey the event was "something of a lark" and his advice is, "Do a SlutWalk in Saudi Arabia and then you’ll earn your stripes."
Furey's main beef is that "But where the event goes astray is in the activist language the organizers employ to implicate police forces nationwide as complicit in sex crimes."
He doesn't mention any statistics (ie about conviction rates on reported crimes, or on the rates of non-reporting of crimes) or analysis on problems with how police deal with people who have been sexually assaulted.
He doesn't quote anyone (besides the Facebook event page description) who organized or was at the walk, but does quote 'political author' Christopher Hitchens, along with Ottawa Police Chief Vern White (who apparently "is unclear on the marchers’ wants.")
Here's another of Furey's takes on what the Slut Walk was about: "Listless people try to create foes out of friends in search of something to agitate against."
"If they made substantive claims against actual, rather than perceived, injustices they would achieve something tangible."
~~~
Want to do something about it?
>> Email him at anthony.furey@sunmedia.ca
>> If you want to send a letter to the editor, email ottsun.oped@sunmedia.ca or fax to (613) 739-8041. Note: All letters should be a max of 250 words and must include your name, address and phone number for verification.
>> Share the link to the article on FB with your comments on what is wrong with what he wrote
http://www.ottawasun.com/comment/columnists/anthony_furey/2011/04/10/17940396.html
** it has been suggested that perhaps Furey writes this in order to draw attention/advertising revenue, so perhaps not sharing the article is a better idea? you can share this blog instead
>> Support independent media!
>> Like the SlutWalk Ottawa Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/SlutWalk-Ottawa/166265483427273
>> other ideas???
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note posted on facebook
"The Problem With People Like You"
In response to "The Problem with SlutWalk" by Anthony Furey
First, I'd like to ask you, Mr. Furey, were you at the event “SlutWalk Ottawa”? If so, how did you possibly miss the point or think it was anything close to a "lark"? If you were not at the event, how can you possibly have an idea about what we were trying to do, or the seriousness with which it was approached? Second, the only voices heard in your article, “The Problem with SlutWalk”, were police officers’, not the event's coordinator (me) or any of Ottawa's women's organizations that spoke or any of those passionate men and women that participated. Furthermore, to suggest that police officers, even those that work specifically with sexual assault cases, could teach us - victims, survivors, allies - more about the crimes we have suffered than we could tell them is absolutely disgusting. I find it shameful that you would write an article that excuses victim blaming and invalidates the experiences of victims of sexual assault. I concede that the statement given at York university was from a single police officer, but his sentiments reflect what the majority of our society believes. Just take a look at the online comments in response to your article and you will see how pervasive his victim-blaming stance is.
SlutWalk was not a joke or “lark”; it’s participants were not “listless” individuals looking for a cause to fill up a Sunday afternoon. I can guarantee every single one of the people marching yesterday would give anything to never have know sexual assault, and to see it become a thing of the past. You’re unclear what we want? We want people like you to stop regurgitating and propagating victim-blaming and victim-shaming; we want people like you to realize sexual assault is rampant – on the streets and in our homes; we want people like you to realize the systems we have, be it the police, the courts, or (surprise) the media are not helping us. That’s why we marched. And we will keep marching until the end of sexual assault.
Emily Griffiths
The “Listless” SlutWalk Ottawa Organizer
letter submitted to Ottawa Sun
I was disgusted (but not surprised) to read Anthony Furey's commentary in "The Problem with SlutWalk".
The accusation of police complicity in a system of oppression isn't made "flippantly" or as a result of "fallacy": It's fact. Just ask any of the women who were courageous enough to share their stories at SlutWalk yesterday. Rape is the only crime where the victim is implicitly (if not explicitly) blamed through the questioning of cops: What were you wearing? Why were you walking in that area of town? Why didn't you scream louder? It is through this line of investigation that the police become part of a rape culture that places the onus on women to protect themselves rather than on men not to rape.
As though this problematic write-off wasn't enough, Furey goes on to dismiss the issue of gender reassignment surgery as though trans rights are somehow less important than gay rights. Just because we may comparatively have it better in Canada than other countries does not mean that we are a perfect nation. It is our right and our responsibility to fight to have the voices of the less privileged in our society heard.
To deny the systematic oppression of women and other minorities is unproductive and ignorant. It is possible to be grateful for the protections afforded to us in our country while still hoping (and working) for change.
I remain proud to have been a part of SlutWalk.
- Erica Butler
good article
Ottawa Slut Walk 2011: Reclaiming Our Sexuality
by Maggie Gordon
http://maggiegordon.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/ottawa-slut-walk-2011-reclaiming-our-sexuality/