“To help avoid assaults, women should avoid dressing like sluts``-Toronto Police Officer to York U Students January 24th.

It’s rather annoying this thought process still exists.




On Sunday, April 3, a group of women marched from Queen’s Park to Toronto Police Headquarters on College St in protest of a police officer putting his foot in his mouth.

The officer told a York University law class on January 24th that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order to not be victimized.” So in response, a “Slut March” was organized by a couple of the students. The demonstration was peaceful and included victims of assault as well.



Of course, the main issue is the officer’s statement at York January 24th. I’m male. I admit I enjoy looking at the female form. And, I admit there are times where the thoughts are not necessarily pure. However, I would not act on any of those thoughts. And I would never use a woman’s clothing (or lack thereof) as an excuse. Really, it should not be an excuse for anyone. A woman dressed in barely there clothing is not “asking for it” nor does she “deserve” getting assaulted. A woman wearing a parka is just as likely to be assaulted as a woman dressed to walk the streets.



The next question is then.. Who’s at fault? If we’re not placing the blame on the female, who do we blame for the assault? Simple. We blame the scumbucket who decided to assault the female. I remember reading an article in Playboy magazine, maybe 10 years ago now, about why men assault women. The experts in the article basically say it’s done due to survival instinct, as part of the male wanting to pass genes on, etc. Ok.. But that excuse doesn’t work for me. We’re civilized people. We’ve been taught that kind of behaviour is unacceptable. I mean, if someone started flinging their excrement around at people what would we say? Would we pass it off as instinct, or would we consider that disgusting? Part of the problem may be how taboo we make sex. Now, I’m not saying we should allow people to do it wherever they want, but maybe being honest from the start may mean more respect for ourselves and others. But, I digress...



So what do we do? We send these predators to jail and they come out “rehabilitated.” We release them into the wild to possibly relapse. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, or really done much research on this, but I wonder just how many “rehabilitated” reoffend. For obvious reasons, the people in neighbourhoods where these people are being released to don’t want the person there. So again, what’s the answer? My answer may be a little extreme. You assault someone, you can kiss it goodbye. Literally.. After they chop it from your body..



So really there is only this left for me to say: Ladies, dress as you want. There will always be admirers. And if, God Forbid, you are the victim of an assault, just remember: You are NOT at fault.