When someone breaks into your home, you typically take measures to ensure that future break-ins are prevented. In my case, there were two homicides within 6 months of each other within a half mile of where I live several years ago, along with the fact there are also nearly a dozen registered sex offenders also within that half-mile radius, so I take measures to protect myself – i.e. I carry a firearm concealed.
Yet it seems that the only responses to sexual harassment and sexual assault is pacifism. From SlutWalk Toronto’s Facebook page:
NB: We’d like to acknowledge and bring attention to the fact that there have been multiple accounts of participants being sexually assaulted at Pride this year (and in previous years). This is not acceptable by any stretch of the imagination. Clothes do not equal consent. Costumes do not equal consent. Participation in celebration and revelry does not equal consent.
There are some members of the community who will be bringing up these issues to Pride Toronto, as well as the Dyke and Trans March organizers. We fully support them in pushing to make Pride safer from sexual violence.
People are allegedly being sexually harassed and sexually assaulted at these events, and the only response is basically saying to people "Please don’t do that." How exactly do they think the event organizers are going to "make Pride safer"? Yet they have the nerve to call people like me a "rape apologist" and "victim blamer" because I have said that you need to be more proactive in your responses to these concerns while also taking more proactive measures to prevent them from becoming concerns.
Easiest pro-active measure: pepper spray. But bear in mind that pepper spray doesn’t work on everyone, so do try to have other contingency plans.
