"I think we're beating around the bush here… I’ve been told I'm not supposed to say this – however, women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized."

These were Toronto Police Constable Michael Sanguinetti’s words to students at a crime-prevention forum in 2011. These words were met with swift criticism from students and communities both at York University and in Toronto more broadly as they spoke to a culture of victim blaming and slut shaming in the city much bigger than officer Sanguinetti.

These words, deliberately shifting blame from perpetrators of violence to those targeted and impacted by violence reflect how Toronto Police and local media reflect on cases of sexual violence and abuse. Born from this rage was the inaugural SlutWalk – a rally in the heart of downtown Toronto that sought to resist social and cultural norms that trivialize, even laugh at violence and victimization.

It’s been six years since SlutWalk Toronto’s first event, and we’ve seen grassroots solidarity actions in over 200 cities worldwide, where organizers have rallied communities for marches against victim-blaming, slut shaming and systemic forms of discrimination and violence. Some of these marches have been called SlutWalks, others have taken locally-driven names; all have been a part of international, collective action in support of survivors of sexual violence battling systemic and intersecting forms of oppression.

As we move into SlutWalk Toronto’s 2017 action we’re connecting with local organizations to highlight the ways in which anti-violence work is relevant to a number of social movements. Our community partners this year, Maggie’s: Toronto Sex Workers Action Project and Silence is Violence Toronto, have chosen to center the struggle for sex workers rights – specifically the organizing of Black and Indigenous sex workers of colour (BIPOC) and migrant sex workers rights groups in the city.