This weekend was Salt Lake City’s Walk of No Shame or SLUT Walk – a march against rape culture. Rape culture encompasses a large scope of ideas that our community struggles with such as sexual assault, slut shaming, and victim blaming. This march aims to bring awareness to our community and “strike down the ideas that survivors of sexual assault somehow deserved it, or that anyone is inviting this behavior”. The hope is that by participating in this event or seeing it we will start to dismantle rape culture so that survivors have better access to help and reporting methods.
The SLUT walk had very few rules and most importantly, no dress code! Everyone was encouraged to come in whatever made them comfortable and empowered “We are not your high school-you can wear those leggings…you be you.”
A University of Utah student, Kim Davidson, attended the event and gave her own perspective stating the Walk of No Shame is “important because survivors of sexual assault and rape should not feel shameful about what happened to them. They need support from others in the community to help put an end to sexual violence.”
This event was extremely well received with many passerbys yelling, “encouraging words and honking in support.” Even the mayor of Salt Lake, Jackie Biskupski, told her story as a survivor and ended with a call to action stating, “We will not be ashamed, and we will stand up and we will demand justice.”
People’s reasons for attending the event ranged from being survivors themselves, to having someone in their life they wanted to support, to just wanting to be more involved and raise awareness. The Walk of No Shame addresses a topic that many people are uncomfortable with, and ultimately encourages change to occur. It is events like these that create the change we need in our community.
As University of Utah students, we know the prevalence of sexual assault on our campus and need to be bringing awareness and support to everyone in our community. If you or someone you know is looking for resources on campus contact the Center for Student Wellness or The Counseling Center. It is by addressing these issues and de-stigmatizing rape culture that we move forward.