Chicago residents will march June 4 to raise awareness about sexual double standards and victim-blaming in the city’s SlutWalk.
SlutWalk Chicago will give residents an opportunity to improve awareness about victim-blaming, event co-organizer Jessica Skolnik said.
“This is an attempt to look at the connection between sexual double standards and rape culture and to provide a place for folks interested in changing the way we speak about sexual assault and the way we treat people’s sexual private lives,” Skolnik said.
The walk will begin at noon at the plaza in front of the James R. Thompson Center, 100 West Randolph St. Participants will march in a large square along Grant Park, ending at Cook Daley Plaza, 118 North Clark St. There will be speakers and entertainment before and after the walk.
SlutWalks have been held around the country in response to a statement made by a Toronto police officer in January. “Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order to not be victimized,” the officer said in a speech on campus safety to members of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, according to SlutWalk Chicago’s website.
In response, Heather Jarvis helped organize SlutWalk Toronto. She was hoping for 100 people to show up and was shocked to find more than 3,000.
“The environment was both impassioned and frustrated enough to promote change,” Jarvis said.
Since then, communities around the world have organized similar walks. Most have different direct aims and methods, Skolnik said, but the end goal of ending victim-blaming is the same.
Boston, Dallas, Asheville, N.C., and Ottawa have also organized walks, and more are planned for Seattle, Philadelphia, Reno, Nev., and Austin, Texas.
Chicago event organizers are expecting about 5,000 people to show up and are hoping to have representatives from nonprofits speak, Skolnik said. She said she hopes the event will raise awareness about victim-blaming issues and the potential for victim abuse within the Chicago Police Department.
“This is a worldwide cultural issue,” Skolnik said. “It manifests itself in different ways in different cultures and for different localities, but there is something universal about it.”
Skolnik is trying to create a curriculum for training those who deal with survivors, including medical, legal and police personnel, she said. In addition, she said she hopes the march will help her spread awareness about including consent training into sex education curriculums. She has worked on this pet project in small communities in Chicago.
Constable Wendy Drummond, spokeswoman for the Toronto Police Department, said she was pleased by the wave of marches. They match the goals of the police department, which requires its officers to undergo training on how to deal with victims of sexual assault, much more than the cop’s comments that sparked them, she added.
“The fact that people are talking about sexual assault and the victim is never to blame is a very positive thing,” she said.
Chicago event organizers reached out to local businesses, community groups and bloggers to become allies of the event. Nell Taylor, executive director of the Chicago Underground Library, said the message behind the walk was something everyone should be aware of.
“Everyone should be an ally to this,” Nell said. “There’s no politics involved.”
