Slutwalk, Syrians & More Naked Bikers: Three events in London on Saturday 11th June 2011.
Slutwalk London – Piccadilly to Trafalgar Square
Several thousand people, mainly women, some dressed in deliberately provocative fashions, marched through London to demand the right to wear what they like and to be safe.
The protest came after a police officer in Toronto had told students “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”
They were protesting against the use of the word ‘slut’ to describe the innocent victims of crimes and the blaming of the victims for the crimes that were carried out against them. The job of police is to protect people on the street and arrest and get convictions of those who commit crimes, not to blame the victims for the crime.
I wrote then “Women should feel free to go out on the streets dressed how they like – whether burkha or bikini – and be safe. An attractive dress is an attractive dress and not an invitation to rape.”
They were also protesting against male violence against women in general and calling for better education on the facts about rape and called for improvements in the legal, emotional and practical support for the victims of sexual assault, rape and domestic violence.
Government cuts in public services had led to a decrease in support and legal aid, and the failure to provide adequate affordable social housing often makes it impossible for victims of domestic violence to leave the family home.
They also protested the failure of the UK immigration authorities to take seriously the accounts of rape given by many asylum seekers and the use of rape as a military weapon in Libya and elsewhere.
More on My London Diary at Slutwalk London.
Syrians Protest At Syrian Embassy – Belgrave Square
A crowd of over a hundred Syrians protested outside the embassy after news of the government using helicopter gunships against peaceful protesters in Maarat al-Numaab and the ‘revenge’ attacks against villages around Jisr al-Shugour, where crops have been burnt, livestock killed, olive trees uprooted and villages destroyed.
Peaceful protests in Syria have been met by increasing military force in Syria and the protesters called for President Bashar al-Assad and his regime to resign and for democratic changes in their country.
The protest in London remained peaceful but very noisy and the two armed officers guarding the embassy door had nothing to do and other officers remained in their van a short distance away. There were no signs of anyone being inside the embassy during the protest.
Naked Bike Ride – Hyde Park & Westminster
I’ve written several times recently about the annual Naked Bike Rides in London which are an environmental protest against car culture and and oil-based economy, so won’t repeat myself here.
I also wrote at some length on My London Diary about the 2011 ride when I photographed many of the riders as they set off from Hyde Park. As I commented the ride, “Now in its eighth year the event has become a part of the tourist calendar, with listings on the major events sites for visitors and in newspapers and magazines and a large crowd had gathered for the start, making it difficult to photograph sensibly.”
This was the first ride following the introduction of ‘Boris Bikes’, the scheme set up by Ken Livingstone inspired by a similar scheme in Paris, but only launched on 30th July 2010 after Boris Johnson had become Mayor, and many on the ride were taking advantage of these hired bikes.
The mass start was made rather chaotic by the large number of spectators, many wandering onto the route holding up their phone cameras, and in later years the ride was split to start in a number of different parts of London to avoid this.
By the time I met the riders again in Westminster, having taken the tube there, the riders had been split up into a number of small groups and it hardly seemed a mass ride, but I learnt later that they had stopped to regroup and there were pictures on the news of them en mass riding up the Mall and singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to the Queen, although she failed to put in an appearance.
More pictures (which obviously include some nudity) at Naked Bike Ride.
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