At Jerusalem ‘SlutWalk,’ Women Protest Rape and Victim-Blaming
Image by Getty Images
Several hundred people, many of them high school students, marched through Jerusalem in an annual protest against rape and a perceived tendency to blame rape victims.
Israel’s fourth annual SlutWalk, held Friday, promoted the message that women should be free from sexual harassment even when wearing revealing clothing.
As at other SlutWalks in Israel and elsewhere, many participants were scantily clad. Among the slogans on signs and in chants were “Blame the rapist” and “When she says no, she means no.”
The demonstration, which had light police protection, went smoothly, with no violence and only a few spectators responding with critical or abusive comments, according to the Times of Israel. One participant told the publication she thinks women in Israel suffer more harassment than elsewhere.
“People in Israel think everything is their business, and they say things that are not OK,” she said.
Launched in Toronto in 2011 after a local police officer said that to prevent rape “women should avoid dressing like sluts,” SlutWalks have since taken place in various countries around the world.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
