Hundreds of North Texans will gather Saturday to march for rape victim awareness in Dallas's first "Slut Walk." The purpose of the rally is to let the public to know that no matter how a woman dresses, no one deserves to be sexually assaulted.
Earlier this year, women across the world were outraged when a Toronto Police chief told a group of female students, "If you don't want to be raped, you should avoid dressing like sluts."
This controversial comment led thousands of citizens to congregate in downtown Toronto earlier this month to protest the victimization of women who have been raped with their first Slut Walk.
Now, the movement has spread internationally, with Slut Walks happening as far away as London.
"There's so much guilt and shame that already comes after sexual assault," Elizabeth Webb, organizer of Slut Walk Dallas, said. "With victim blaming on top of that...people around you saying 'what were you wearing? Why were you there? Why were you drinking? Why were you around him?' It just adds to it, and it's so horribly damaging to the psyche."
Webb, a rape survivor, says the point of the rally is to get the message out that rape is not the victim's fault.
"I'm sorry, but I am not responsible for someone else's actions," she said.
Courtney Underwood, another rape survivor and the founder of the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center, agreed.
"As a victim, I know it doesn't matter how you dress," Underwood said. "I was raped in a church. I was not provocatively dressed. There wasn't anything that anybody could point to when it happened to me that would say 'oh, you shouldn't have been there. You shouldn't have done that. Because you don't think the pastor of a church is going to rape a 15-year-old girl."
The Slut Walk will be held Saturday at the JFK Memorial Plaza downtown at 1pm.
Earlier this year, women across the world were outraged when a Toronto Police chief told a group of female students, "If you don't want to be raped, you should avoid dressing like sluts."
This controversial comment led thousands of citizens to congregate in downtown Toronto earlier this month to protest the victimization of women who have been raped with their first Slut Walk.
Now, the movement has spread internationally, with Slut Walks happening as far away as London.
"There's so much guilt and shame that already comes after sexual assault," Elizabeth Webb, organizer of Slut Walk Dallas, said. "With victim blaming on top of that...people around you saying 'what were you wearing? Why were you there? Why were you drinking? Why were you around him?' It just adds to it, and it's so horribly damaging to the psyche."
Webb, a rape survivor, says the point of the rally is to get the message out that rape is not the victim's fault.
"I'm sorry, but I am not responsible for someone else's actions," she said.
Courtney Underwood, another rape survivor and the founder of the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center, agreed.
"As a victim, I know it doesn't matter how you dress," Underwood said. "I was raped in a church. I was not provocatively dressed. There wasn't anything that anybody could point to when it happened to me that would say 'oh, you shouldn't have been there. You shouldn't have done that. Because you don't think the pastor of a church is going to rape a 15-year-old girl."
The Slut Walk will be held Saturday at the JFK Memorial Plaza downtown at 1pm.
