Published: 28 May 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
A SlutWalk is a worldwide movement, conceived in 2011 in Toronto, with attendees typically dressed down to their underwear or other revealing outfits to decry those who blame or excuse sexual violence based on women’s dress.
Since its inception the nature of the protest has morphed to encompass all gendered violence, and this year was themed “Constant Emergency Alert”, in reference to women being subject to sexual harassment and violence “no matter what they wear or how they act”.
Placards, body paint, and water bottles were distributed at HaDavidka Square, the march’s meeting point. Organisers rallied the crowd with a dedication to Netta Hadid, a transgender woman who last week died by suicide. Names of other women who had died through gendered violence were read out, with the crowd responding “may their memory be a revolution,” after each, a call to action for better protection and justice under the law for victims of sexual violence.
The march progressed from HaDavidka Square though the centre of town to coalesce at Heleni HaMalka for more speeches. Despite Jerusalem’s stereotypically conservative outlook, the protest was met with only a few minor interruptions, mostly from older orthodox men.
The provocative title of the march serves to dismantle the inherent violence of the word, which is used to disempower and denigrate women by shaming their sexual freedom. By adorning themselves with the word - in body paint and under the SlutWalk banner - protesters reclaim pride in their right to practice and embody sexual liberation however they want to.
There was a particular emphasis this year on violence against transgender women, and the march typically has a strong alliance with LGBT+ advocacy.
The Jerusalem SlutWalk took place only days before the body of a young woman was found in a North Melbourne park early Sunday morning. Courtney Herron, a 25-year old homeless woman who suffered from mental illness and drug abuse, was discovered having died from what has been described by police as a “horrendous bashing”. Though the coroner found no evidence of sexual assault, it’s an all too-familiar story for Melbournians to wake up to. The death follows a spate of similar crimes across Melbourne, including the January killing of Arab-Israeli exchange student Aiia Maasarware, who was talking to her sister on the phone when she was attacked at a railway station.
In June 2018, vigils were held across the state for the violent rape and murder of 21-year old comedian Eurydice Dixon, who was on her way home after a performance. Comments by senior police officer Superintendent David Clayton to the effect that people needed to take responsibility for their safety were widely condemned as only serving the narrative that women were at fault for the violence rendered on them for not ensuring their personal security.
While Israeli politicians were silent in the wake of the SlutWalk, the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, swiftly spoke out against violence against women after Herron’s death. “It reminds us that whilst we have achieved a lot we have so much more to do in terms of preventing violence against women and keeping women across Victoria safe,” he said.
The recently re-elected Andrews launched the first royal commission into family violence during his first term, acknowledging that gendered violence against is “not about the way women behave, this is not about where women are at what hour … This is most likely about the behaviour of men."
Photo: Jerusalem SlutWalk protest. Credit: Marc Israel Sellem
