Participants at last year’s SlutWalk in New Delhi

Calcutta’s women have a chance to walk the talk on May 24 in the city’s very first SlutWalk. And yet again, it’s up to the young to try and bring about real paribartan. Curious? Read on.

What is SlutWalk?

It all began with a statement by Michael Sanguinetti, a Toronto police officer, to university students: “Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised”.

The brains behind the first SlutWalk were the ones who were the most outraged by Sanguinetti’s statement. They decided to bust “such damaging stereotypes” by organising a protest march in which participants were free to dress provocatively, if they wished.

The march in Toronto — on April 3, 2011 — saw women come out in T-shirts emblazoned with slogans like “Because We’ve Had Enough”, while some took it to another level by showing lots of skin.

Other venues

After Toronto, SlutWalk has been held in, among other cities, London (June 11, 2011), Sydney (June 13, 2011) and New York (October 1, 2011). Some were organised under varied names like ‘Marcha das Vagabundas’ (March of the Whores) in Sao Paulo (June 4, 2011), ‘March of Whores’ in Matagalpa, Nicaragua (June 11, 2011), ‘Besharmi Morcha’ in New Delhi (July 31, 2011) and even in Jerusalem (May 4, 2012).

India debut

The first Besharmi Morcha in the country was held on July 17, 2011, in Bhopal.

Who’s behind the city’s first SlutWalk?

Sulakshana Biswas, a first-year postgraduate student of film studies at Jadavpur University, decided to organise the march in Calcutta. “I remember watching a talk show where Shobhaa De had shown utter ignorance towards the whole issue, especially in front of Umang Sabarwal of Besharmi Morcha. That inspired me to deal with such ignorance more strongly. And if Calcutta isn’t ready now, then it will never be ready for such a movement,” said the 22-year-old who completed her graduation from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta.

Sulakshana is not alone. Many have decided to extend help by spreading the word. But it was a group of eight who pooled in their resources to make the walk a success. The group includes JU students Shreosi Ray, Aditya Narayan Chatterjee and Mitasha Bhattacharya, SRFTI student Subhadipta Biswas, TISS (Mumbai) student Shreya Sen, Adamas Engineering College student Moupriya Das and a teacher, Priyadarshini Dey, of Calcutta International School.

Now or never

When Besharmi Morcha was held in Delhi, Calcutta was considered “not ready” for such a walk by organisers.

For the young, however, it’s now or never. “It’s not just about breaking the wall of ignorance, it also involves protesting sexual harassment, irrespective of gender. Men are equally susceptible to such abuse,” said Sayan Kundu, an economics student at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, one of the nine core members organising the Calcutta walk.

“A march won’t change anything overnight, but at least people would sit up and take note… if so many people have come out on the road for an issue, it must be big,” said Sulakshana.

When and where

There’s an informal discussion on the Jadavpur University campus on May 23 in front of the Worldview Bookstore. The SlutWalk is at 5pm the next day from the university campus to Triangular Park.

How can you take part?

Information on the Calcutta SlutWalk is mainly being spread through Facebook, through which the organisers can be contacted, apart from pamphlets and word-of-mouth.

Sayan said he expected about 100 to 150 people to participate. “There’s no dress code. Participants can dress skimpily if they want to make the point stronger. They can bring their own posters, painted T-shirts or even paint themselves with slogans. What is important is participation,” he added.