Monday 4 April 2011

"Slut Walk" protest after misguided advice on preventing assault

Earlier this year a police officer told a class at York University in Toronto, Canada, that women can prevent rape if they "avoid dressing like sluts."

He has apologized, but his comment indexed the kinds of poorly-thought-through ideas which in the end cast blame on victims of sexual assault. It is especially worrisome in a person who should help enforce the relevant laws.

So on April 3rd 1,500 to 3,000 people participated in "Slut Walk," a protest march, in Toronto.

According to a commenter (UnabashedOpinion) on the Globe and Mail's website:
What we're hoping for is really simple: That Toronto Police Services (1) Revamp their training curriculum on sexual assault and domestic violence, using experts in the field to provide content (the current curriculum was developed exclusively by the police themselves; (2) That experts in the field be used to actually teach the material (currently it is inadequately trained cops teaching ignorant cops); (3) That good methods of adult education be used in the teaching so that the learning sustains and actually transforms ingrained attitudes (currently, no actual learning takes place, since no transformation of worldview and understanding occurs).


The Snowy Path of Canada's Nunavut

On April 1st, twelve years after Nunavut parted from the Northwest Territories to form its own political unit within Canada, the Globe and Mail published an investigation of life in the Inuit territory today.
@TheRevAl
Reverend Al Sharpton
43 years ago today Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis. Let us remember his sacrifice for all of us.
43 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

1:27 PM Berlin time Apr 4th, Twitter.com