March organizer Christie Eastburn in the KYW Newsradio studio. (Credit: Cherri Gregg)
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A week after the Obama administration launches a new effort to combat sexual assault on college campuses, Philadelphia organizers are gearing up for the annual March Against Rape Culture.
Participants say attention to the issue is long overdue and organizer Christie Eastburn agrees:
“We’ve been aware of this problem for a long time and it’s just now getting media attention.”
Originally called “The Slut Walk,” it began four years ago after police at a Toronto university told coeds to “stop dressing like sluts” to avoid rape.
“Those words really ignited fire in a lot of people,” says Eastburn.
Listen the the full interview with Christie Eastburn on this CBS Philly podcast (trt: 9:02)…
SlutWalks were organized all around the world to raise awareness about pervasive rape culture like rape jokes, domestic violence and common behavior like…
“Using women’s bodies as sexual objects in the media, not really having education for young people around consent and what that is,” explains Eastburn.
But Philadelphia changed nixed the name Slut Walk last year.
“It wasn’t a name that everyone could get behind,” says Eastburn.
The March to End Rape Culture kicks off Saturday at 11am at Thomas Paine Plaza, across from Love Park.
(If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, help is available 24/7 through the National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE or online.rainn.org.)
