6 June 2011

Sluts, socialists and tumble weed - "Prostitution is not permission"

| creative_canberran
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I think by the time prominent local feminist Melinda Tankard Reist had joined others speaking of the folly of reclaiming the word “slut”, it had become clear that SlutWalk wasn’t something to be taken seriously.

No surprise then that of the almost 800 who RSVPed on Facebook for Canberra’s walk, less than 100 actually attended.

Of those, many seemed to be incidental attendees anyway. The organisers interviewed by the Canberra Times made yesterday’s cold weather a scapegoat. Perhaps though other factors were at play:

  • First and foremost, this was always a stunt by student politicians and interest groups. Hence Socialist Alternative had a stall set up at the rally rather than the Rape Crisis Centre or other victims and women’s groups.
  • The messages at the event were at times amusingly odd including a curious banner saying “Prostitution is not permission” captured and published by CT.
  • Some participants messages were downright counterproductive including one that claimed women aren’t responsible for their own safety.
  • The march included an inordinate number of grey haired blokes, walking alone without banners but some with cameras. Curiously absent were women in the same age group… kinda strange.

To those participants who did turn up with messages of rape being unacceptable and women deserving respect while avoiding the term “slut”, good work. Congrats for sending a very important and and mature message. A shame though those messages had to compete with those of confused cheerleaders and politics.

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Lord,
Claiming everyone who disagrees with you is ignorant doesn’t help your argument.

The fact that most people who are sexually assaulted will know their attacker means that rapists aren’t choosing their victim randomly by what she is wearing on the street. This actually supports what I was saying, which is that your Slutwalk isn’t going to reach the people or change the behaviours of people who are going to rape someone.

And I called the event a convoluted joke because of the conflicting messages that were given from people attending; from reclaiming the word Slut (whatever that means) to wanting their public behaviours to be free from judgement.
The main aim of the event (if there ever was one) got lost in these messages long ago.

As for your statistics, they make great headlines but when you look deeper what Mouthface has said is correct.

Lord said :

In the ACT only 2% of reported sexual assaults end in prison sentences, and that is without including the thousands of unreported sexual assaults that occur every year.

This is an interesting statistic and whilst sounding damning, does very little to support your argument. You have stated 2% of “reported” sexual assaults. That’s a good starting point so we have to discount all reports that do not end in a charge. Then we have to discount all reports that end in a charge but not in a conviction. Then we have to discount sexual assaults that end in a conviction but are not deemed serious enough for the defendant to do jail time. Here is a definition of sexual assault taken from an ABS paper. As you can see, whilst there are many behaviours that would justify jail time, there are many that would not be deemed serious enough to end in a jail term, so throwing statistics around may make you think that you have a case, but please make sure you don’t misrepresent .

“Sexual assault is unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature directed towards a person:
which makes that person feel uncomfortable, distressed, frightened or threatened, or which results in harm or injury to that person; to which that person has not freely agreed or given consent, or to which that person is not capable of giving consent; in which another person uses physical, emotional, psychological or verbal force or (other) coercive behaviour against that person.
Sexual assault may be located on a continuum of behaviours from sexual harassment to life-threatening rape. These behaviours may include lewdness, stalking, indecent assault, date rape, drug-assisted sexual assault, child sexual abuse, incest, exposure of a person to pornography, use of a person in pornography, and threats or attempts to sexually assault.”
From ABS: SEXUAL ASSAULT IN AUSTRALIA: A STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

As for “unreported” cases. Well they are unreported, and that means we have no way to gain any information from them or come to any conclusion about them.

fgzk said :

… a well practiced whore will take your money, spend the time, and still leave you wanting…

Sounds like some consultants we use.

When women report their assault they are always met with accusatory questions like “What were you doing alone with this person?” or “Why were you so drunk?” These questions are irrelevant to the crime and in fact do harm to the psyches of the victims. The point is that it is never the fault of the victim, nothing justifies rape.?

These questions are not irrelevant to the crime at all. As you said, most rape victims know the person who raped them. Therefore the court has to establish whether a rape actually took place. This means that the victim has to be questioned, and ultimately those questions will be uncomfortable. As in any criminal case, a good defence lawyer will grill the complainant or witness for the prosecution, it’s his or her job.
What are you suggesting as an alternative then? That every woman who claims that she has been raped is simply taken on her word? That no enquiry should take place?

Lord said :

Yes,
because your everyday rapist would have seen your show of strength (200 people) and decided to stop raping people.
And what is this disturbing culture of victim blaming?
Slutwalk was a convoluted joke.

Your response demonstrates that you have no understanding of rape at all. 60% of all sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone that the victim knows, most happen in daylight in an environment that the victim is familiar with. Rapists aren’t these awful people who hide in the shadows waiting to strike an unknowing victim.

In the ACT only 2% of reported sexual assaults end in prison sentences, and that is without including the thousands of unreported sexual assaults that occur every year. When women report their assault they are always met with accusatory questions like “What were you doing alone with this person?” or “Why were you so drunk?” These questions are irrelevant to the crime and in fact do harm to the psyches of the victims. The point is that it is never the fault of the victim, nothing justifies rape.

Also, if you don’t understand something why not try to learn about it? Engage with it, and if you decide that you don’t agree with it, say something constructive about it. Claiming that it is a “convoluted joke” adds nothing to the legitimate debate about the merits of SlutWalk and the impact that it had. If you don’t your ignorance will continue to define you.

Lord said :

Why don’t you prove that it was a waste of time. There were over 200 people in the march through Civic – by the way I can prove this with documents if you like – and we walked past hundreds of people, we started many conversations. If we prevented even a single rape from occurring then the event was not a waste of time. If we gave a single victim of rape the courage to seek redress for the crime committed against her, then we achieved a great victory in changing a disturbing culture of victim blaming. What have you achieved recently?

Yes,
because your everyday rapist would have seen your show of strength (200 people) and decided to stop raping people.
And what is this disturbing culture of victim blaming?
Slutwalk was a convoluted joke.

j4ck said :

Hah. I don’t care how “ignorant” I look on the internet.

Obviously.

j4ck said :

colourful sydney racing identity said :

j4ck said :

Perhaps though other factors were at play, like the fact that the event was called “Slut Walk”. Maybe? How do you think the general public will react to an event like that? Sounds like the event organisers were a bunch of bored ANU students with nothing better to do with their time. Good try guys.

perhaps equip yourself with facts before posting – you are less likely to look ignorant.

Hah. I don’t care how “ignorant” I look on the internet. The whole event was a waste of time. Prove me wrong.

Why don’t you prove that it was a waste of time. There were over 200 people in the march through Civic – by the way I can prove this with documents if you like – and we walked past hundreds of people, we started many conversations. If we prevented even a single rape from occurring then the event was not a waste of time. If we gave a single victim of rape the courage to seek redress for the crime committed against her, then we achieved a great victory in changing a disturbing culture of victim blaming. What have you achieved recently?

Bimbogeek most women find it profitable. That’s why they spend the time to look nice.

The rest of you that still find difficulty with “NO” regardless of any situation “NO” actually means “NO”.

If you pay a prostitute and she then says NO, then you may receive a refund. Prostitutes still get to say NO, at any time. In-fact a well practiced whore will take your money, spend the time, and still leave you wanting.( that’s what extensions are for.) They can say NO without you even knowing.

Its a simple concept.

colourful sydney racing identity said :

j4ck said :

Perhaps though other factors were at play, like the fact that the event was called “Slut Walk”. Maybe? How do you think the general public will react to an event like that? Sounds like the event organisers were a bunch of bored ANU students with nothing better to do with their time. Good try guys.

perhaps equip yourself with facts before posting – you are less likely to look ignorant.

Hah. I don’t care how “ignorant” I look on the internet. The whole event was a waste of time. Prove me wrong.

Stevian said :

BimboGeek said :

Has Stevian been dating a fake-arsed Manuka skank? Nice women don’t expect to be paid for their time. We generally find the concept insulting.

We pay our cash (dinner, etc) and you can still say no. It’s a mugs game

Definitely sounds like you should start dating some women under 60…

BimboGeek said :

Has Stevian been dating a fake-arsed Manuka skank? Nice women don’t expect to be paid for their time. We generally find the concept insulting.

We pay our cash (dinner, etc) and you can still say no. It’s a mugs game

Damn, no sluts actually turned up. Just your typical garden variety assortment of very unsexy lefty types. Anticlimax to say the least.

Has Stevian been dating a fake-arsed Manuka skank? Nice women don’t expect to be paid for their time. We generally find the concept insulting.

colourful sydney racing identity4:03 pm 06 Jun 11

j4ck said :

Perhaps though other factors were at play, like the fact that the event was called “Slut Walk”. Maybe? How do you think the general public will react to an event like that? Sounds like the event organisers were a bunch of bored ANU students with nothing better to do with their time. Good try guys.

perhaps equip yourself with facts before posting – you are less likely to look ignorant.

Classified said :

bleebleeblee said :

matt31221 said :

Prostitution is not permission??? OMG.

Men are the evil penetrators, the opressors! Bloody feminists.

given the context of the event i think the banner means “prostitution is not permission to rape” – OMG i totally agree.

I interpreted it as “you can pay me, but I’ll still say no”.

Hmm…

No, that’s called dating

creative_canberran3:21 pm 06 Jun 11

Classified said :

bleebleeblee said :

matt31221 said :

Prostitution is not permission??? OMG.

Men are the evil penetrators, the opressors! Bloody feminists.

given the context of the event i think the banner means “prostitution is not permission to rape” – OMG i totally agree.

I interpreted it as “you can pay me, but I’ll still say no”.

Hmm…

And so we go from the Crimes Act to the Trade Practices Act.

bleebleeblee said :

matt31221 said :

Prostitution is not permission??? OMG.

Men are the evil penetrators, the opressors! Bloody feminists.

given the context of the event i think the banner means “prostitution is not permission to rape” – OMG i totally agree.

I interpreted it as “you can pay me, but I’ll still say no”.

Hmm…

Perhaps though other factors were at play, like the fact that the event was called “Slut Walk”. Maybe? How do you think the general public will react to an event like that? Sounds like the event organisers were a bunch of bored ANU students with nothing better to do with their time. Good try guys.

bleebleeblee2:11 pm 06 Jun 11

matt31221 said :

Prostitution is not permission??? OMG.

Men are the evil penetrators, the opressors! Bloody feminists.

given the context of the event i think the banner means “prostitution is not permission to rape” – OMG i totally agree.

Prostitution is not permission??? OMG.

Men are the evil penetrators, the opressors! Bloody feminists.

“Curiously absent were women in the same age group… kinda strange.”

If you are easily offended or hate men, please do not read the rest of my post:

I have to say, I was expecting a lot of lesbians to attend. It would have been pick-up central, right? (That is a serious question).

Shoulda held the slutwalk thing in summer, at least then the sheilas would have worn less clothes.

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster10:19 am 06 Jun 11

The rally was a total flop. All the rusted-on lefties were attending the pro-carbon tax rally across town. Meanwhile, the silent majority were enjoying quality time with their families or on more productive and sensible activities whilst counting down the days when we sweep the left out at an election and put things Right again.

I think it’s unfair to characterise protests as anything based purely on the fact that the Socialist Alternative set up a stall out the front. They are extremely well known for leeching on any and all protests they hear about in this way, especially when they have nothing to do with it.

I remember going to a protest (about the internet) in Sydney, where I personally knew some of the organisers and that they had nothing whatsoever to do with that group. The Socialist Alternative, Socialist Alliance, some Falun Gong group and some Socialist-related save the refugees group all set up their stalls right at the front, which meant any passerby would have no idea what the protest behind them was actually about.

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