http://www.yegslutwalk.com
About the project.
SlutWalk is a global protest movement founded in Toronto in April 2011. Its primary goal is to challenge a prevalent cultural imperative that blames the victims of sexual assault for the violence perpetrated against them. It was sparked by a comment from a member of the Toronto Police Service during a “personal safety seminar” at York University’s Osgoode Law School that women should avoid dressing like sluts if they don’t want to become victims of sexual assault.
Since the first SlutWalk in Toronto, the movement has spread to over a hundred cities worldwide. SlutWalk is a “grass roots” movement, with each city’s walk organized and promoted by local activists. Each SlutWalk city’s organizing committee is responsible for their own website, social media presence, promotion and logistics. Edmonton’s SlutWalk took place on June 4, 2011. To learn more about Slutwalk’s history and objectives, check out the website for Slutwalk Toronto.
Project scope.
After learning of plans to stage a SlutWalk in Edmonton, I expressed my interest in participating on Twitter. Soon after, the existing organizing committee approached me to ask if I would be interested in joining the committee to coordinate their blog and social media. I eagerly accepted the opportunity to donate my time and skillset to a movement I am passionate about. This was a pro bono project for which I received no monetary compensation. The site would be updated at least 3 times a week, would have multiple author contributors and would host dialogue with readers in the form of comments on posted articles. All of these factors, combined with a need for plugins to make site maintenance and media sharing easier, necessitated we use WordPress.
I took the logo and posters the organizing committee already had designed and adapted them for the web to create the graphic elements and design concept for the SlutWalk blog. I wrote all of the content on the mission and background of the SlutWalk movement based on researching the website for Toronto SlutWalk, as well as notes taken during organizing committee meetings about our vision for the website.
I was responsible for writing regular featured articles and essays for the site and for posting news about SlutWalk in the media. I sourced content for Edmonton SlutWalk’s Twitter feed, and posted news and moderated/responded to comments on the Edmonton SlutWalk Facebook event page.
I handled many media interviews leading up to and during SlutWalk, some solo and others with fellow members of the organizing committee. I appeared on Global News, CTV News, CityTV’s Breakfast Television, OMNI Television, CBC Radio Edmonton, and the fusedlogic webcast to talk about SlutWalk, and spoke with the Edmonton Journal, iNews880, Vue Weekly, The St. Albert Gazette and Metro Edmonton as well.
On the day Edmonton SlutWalk took place, I delivered an address to the crowd, as did two of the other organizers.
Project results.
Edmonton SlutWalk was a huge learning experience for me. The website component of the project was the easiest part, as I knew I could put together a WordPress site quickly that would meet our needs and represent the SlutWalk “brand”. But helping to plan something that was getting a lot of attention in the city and worldwide media coverage in general involving potentially thousands of people and taking place on public property was new to me, and daunting!
When I initially agreed to run the blog for SlutWalk, I had no intention of becoming so involved with the media aspect of things. However, when asked by other organizers to take on some of these responsibilities, especially as my schedule allowed for it, I was happy to help. As it turned out, I kind of loved talking to the media and felt pretty comfortable in front of the camera. Slutwalk something I’m passionate about on a personal level and because it was my work on the website and I was contributing to the Twitter feed and the Facebook stream, I wanted to stand behind what we were doing in the media.
All of us were new to organizing a project of this scope, and we definitely made learned a lot from some of the missteps we made in some of our publicity, our planning and our dealings with the city. And while every single one of us who stood up and said “I am responsible for Edmonton SlutWalk” knew we’d shoulder a lot of criticism for our message and the tactics we were using to communicate it, which could at times be very difficult on a personal level, the amount of positive feedback and support we received was also incredibly encouraging.
In the end, Edmonton’s SlutWalk drew about 300 people to the Alberta Legislature Grounds, who then walked through downtown and to Edmonton City Hall. Though the turnout was not what we had initially hoped or expected, I am nonetheless incredibly proud of everyone who participated in Edmonton SlutWalk, as organizers, speakers, walkers, or observers. It was an incredible day filled with positivity, solidarity, creativity, courage, and community. The existence of Edmonton SlutWalk caused conversations in social media and in many major news outlets in the city about issues of how our society approached the crime of sexual assault. We received a good deal of media attention, both from major news outlets in the city, but also from some less traditional and more new media focused sources as well. As far as I am concerned, it was a success, and something I’m very proud to have worked on.
Project coverage.
- from The Edmonton Journal (June 5, 2011)
“Slut Walkers demand new attitudes on sexual assault” by Alexandra Zabjek - from The Edmonton Sun (June 4, 2011)
“‘Slut Walk’ protesters stand up for victims of sexual assault” by Allison Salz - from CTV News Edmonton (June 4, 2011)
“Slut Walk comes to Edmonton” by Julie Parrish (also check out the video coverage with Kevin Armstrong on the right hand side of the page!) - from Global News Edmonton (June 4, 2011)
“Slut Walk draws hundreds” with Linda Nguyen - from Global News Edmonton (June 4, 2011)
“Hundreds take to the streets for Edmonton’s ‘Slut Walk’” by Patricia Kozicka - from iNews880 (June 4, 2011)
“Slut Walk takes place in Edmonton” by Brittney LeBlanc - from the West Edmonton Local (June 4, 2011)
“Edmonton Slut Walk fights back against victim blaming” by Mathew White - from fusedlogicTV (May 27, 2011)
“Special: Kasia Gawlak and #YEGSlutWalk” with Walter Schwabe - from CityTV Breakfast Television (May 27, 2011)
“SlutWalk” with Ryan Jespersen
