These days it feels like New York City is the center of the country. Along with the ever-growing Occupy Wall Street movement which expanded onto the Brooklyn Bridge last Saturday, a little over two miles away on the same day SlutWalkNY — an anti-rape organization modeled after the “Take Back the Night” movement of the 1990s — held its first demonstration and rally at New York’s Union Square Park. The event drew huge numbers of feminists speaking out against the ‘culture of rape’ enabled by the justice system, the media and popular culture.
Spurred by the injustice shown by the local court system allowing rape charges to be dropped against former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the behavior of NYPD in response to the Park Slope rapes, SlutWalk’s purpose is to remind us, in very creative ways, that the victim is NOT responsible for their rape. Rapists are. The organization’s mission statement, found here, is summed up this way:
SlutWalk NYC Coalition allies itself with the diverse communities, activists and survivors who live with and fight the effects of rape culture.
The fight against rape culture includes the fight against: Misogyny, Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, Class Exploitation, Ableism, Ageism, Fatphobia, Xenophobia, Colonialism, Imperialism, Poverty, Police Brutality, Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence, Street Harassment.
The fight for a culture without rape is a fight for: Sex positivity, Body positivity, Sexual freedom, Free and creative gender expression, On demand access to abortion and reproductive health services, Respect in the workplace, Respect on the street, Safer, consensual, informed sex, Safe homes, Safe campuses.
The organization plans a follow-up discussion on how to build a representative and critical movement against rape culture in New York. That meeting is scheduled for October 13, 6-8 pm at the Walker Stage, 53 Walker Street (between Broadway and Church) in Manhattan.