Kirsten van den Hul
'Without change no butterflies.'
Radical optimist, change catalyst, columnist, Dutch UN Women's Representative.
Latest column in AD:
'Slut. A nasty word that seems to pop up more and more often.
On soccer fields for example.
First it was “homo”, now words like “ho”, “slut” and “bitch” fly over the pitch just like that.
I’ve also had an occasional “slut” thrown at me, walking down the street wearing heels and a dress. It used to piss me off, but these days, I let it slide. Slut is no longer just a swear word, it’s also a new sobriquet for women who’ve had enough of being judged by their appearance. I’m one of them.
After Toronto, London, Seoul and New Delhi, last Saturday women in Berlin took to the streets for a Slut Walk. Around a thousand self-proclaimed sluts joined in their mini-skirts, stockings and even wearing nothing at all, to protest against the widespread notion that women wearing sexy outfits “are asking for it”.
The slut movement started in Canada, after a cop advised women to dress less “like sluts”. The city of Rome went even further and issued a flyer on street safety which suggested women should not wear short skirts. According to an Indian police commisioner women are better off not going out on the streets at night at all.
The world upside down, if you ask me. Let’s go after the perpetrators of sexual violence, rather than blaming the victims.
Still, not everyone agrees. Recent research in the UK showed that more than half of the interviewed women think that victims are partly responsible for being raped. Dancing, sexy outfits, flirting: sluts “are asking for it”.
I for one believe no one is asking to be raped, whether wearing a burka or a bikini. So I say: sluts (m/f) of the world, unite! Cause no still means no, you know.'
