No one asks for it! On Friday, May 4th, 2012, join the thousands of Canadians who will be wearing purple in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month!
In January 2011, a Toronto police officer at a campus safety information session at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School suggested women could avoid sexual assault by not dressing "like sluts”.
In February 2011, a Manitoba judge gave a conditional two year sentence to a man convicted of sexual assault (meaning he would not serve jail time) stating the victim had been wearing a tube top, high heels, a lot of makeup, and that “sex was in the air” the night of the assault.
Such public examples of victim-blaming in our nation sparked the first annual “No one asks for it!” campaign in 2011; more than 17,000 organizations and individuals across Canada joined the Facebook event page and wore purple on the first Friday in May!
Let’s grow that number for 2012 and make an impact across our nation!
Sexual violence is far more common than most people think. One in three women in our nation will experience some form of sexual assault in their lifetime. Despite the prevalence and impact of this crime, sexual assaults have notoriously low reporting rates; more than 90% of victims do not report their experiences to the police.
No doubt, Canadians’ continual exposure to cases in which women are blamed for their own sexual victimization impacts many people’s decision to speak out after experiencing an assault.
On Friday, May 4th 2012, join us in standing up in recognition of those who have experienced sexual violence in our nation!
Please RSVP to the facebook event for this campaign! Please help us to spread the word!
Download the event poster (PDF)
Twitter hashtag: #NoOneAsksForIt
*Campaign initiated by the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region.
