Sydney `SlutWalk` sends ‘dress no invitation for sexual assault’ message

Even as rain deterred plans of thousands of women turned up at Sydney’s SlutWalk protest to make the event a powerful one.

Melbourne: Even as rain deterred plans of thousands of women who were to turn up at Sydney’s SlutWalk protest, those who did make it managed to make the event a powerful one.

Despite the low turnout, the message was loud and clear: women`s dress is not an invitation for sexual assault. Most of the 200-odd people who gathered at Town Hall were rugged up for the chilly weather. Some women were scantily clad and many men in attendance were dressed in women`s clothes. They carried signs with the slogans: "Proud and happy slut", "Blame rapists not boobs" and one woman had written on her breasts: "Can`t touch these without consent". SlutWalk organiser Samadhi Arktoi briefed the crowd before leading the protest through the CBD. "We`re here today to declare that slut-shaming and victim-blaming have to stop," a daily quoted Arktoi as saying in his speech. "We`re here because we know that whatever the circumstances, sexual assault is never the fault of the victim." The march ended with a number of people giving speeches impassioned from their personal experiences of sexual assault. ANI