The sluts march

At 14 PM this Saturday, hundreds of women gathered on Paulista Avenue in a protest brought to Brazil for the first time: the SlutWalk. Called the "March of the Sluts" in the country, the movement aims to dismantle the stereotype that victims of sexual abuse are responsible for the crimes they suffer, such as the types of clothes they wear. During this afternoon's demonstration, young women were semi-nude and carried signs with phrases such as "My body, my rules," "Believe it or not, my short skirt has nothing to do with you," or "I dress for myself, not for you."

The idea for the SlutWalk movement emerged in January of this year when a police officer in Toronto, Canada, said that women should avoid dressing like sluts so they wouldn't become victims of rape. Outraged, they wanted more than an apology. And so they took to the streets, bringing together three to four thousand participants in a march in Toronto for the first time. Today, the movement has spread to several American cities and reached 19 other countries.

On their official website, members of the SlutWalk movement tell their stories and justify their arguments. “Being raped isn’t about what you wear; it’s not even about sex,” reads part of the text. For SlutWalk, linking a woman’s behavior to the crime she suffers creates an environment where victim-blaming is not seen as a problem. In the public event for the SlutWalk, created on Facebook, the protesters declare: “It’s not the fault of our dresses, high heels, tank tops, skirts and the like that women are disrespected and sexually assaulted every day; this is the fault of the machismo that is still very present in our society.”