On April 13, Feminist Club members and supporters took to Downtown Colorado Springs for their first Slut Walk this month. On April 18, the club will host a second walk on campus.
Saturday’s walk had 15 participants. Walkers met at City Hall to discuss the importance of the walk and share stories about experiences of sexual assault. Those who chose to speak expressed struggles with abuse and frustration with clothing being perceived as provocative.
Feminist Club provided posters for walkers to use. Two young adults not affiliated with UCCS saw the signs and joined the march in solidarity. Club President Ella Barry led the group in chants during the walk around downtown, which could be heard from blocks away.
Lilly Kirk, a freshman WEST major, attended the Slut Walk after hearing about it in a class she has with another Feminist Club member. Although she attended a Pride Festival before, Saturday was Kirk’s first time at a slut walk. As a WEST major, Kirk was excited to attend the walk and be a part of women’s advocacy.
“I’ve been wanting to do protests and activism for a long time, and this school’s giving me the opportunity. And it’s accessible, since we have the carpool, so I don’t have to look outside of the school for other organizations,” Kirk said.
“[Sexual assault awareness is] super personal for me and for a lot of people I know, and because so many people are oblivious to the statistics surrounding how prevalent of an issue it is, this is important to stand up for the people who can’t stand up for themselves,” she said.
Senior business finance major Chad Chargualaf attended the walk for the second time, to support a friend in Feminist Club. “It was really empowering being able to walk with fellow feminists,” he said. “Seeing the people that [we’re] walking by and showing support, even if they’re not showing support, letting them know that we have a voice and it can’t be silenced, it won’t be silenced [was empowering].”
On the walk, Chargualaf was approached by a cyclist trying to inform him that an abortion ban initiative had passed and there was nothing the protestors could do about it. Chargualaf responded, “We don’t care.” Axios Denver reports that a total abortion ban has been proposed as Initiative 81 for 2024’s ballot, but abortion rights groups have recently garnered enough signatures to propose a constitutional amendment protecting abortion as Initiative 89.
Salem Anderson started the Slut Walk in 2021. Anderson had the idea for the walk as part of their final project in WEST 1010 with Professor Julie Torres. Anderson sought help from Taylor Vallance as well.
The two reached out to MOSAIC for assistance with their project. MOSAIC pointed them in the direction of Feminist Club because many campus organizations, MOSAIC included, are not allowed to endorse protests, Vallance said.
Vallance, once an RA, is passionate about bringing awareness to sexual assault, especially on college campuses. Vallance said they were approached by many students who were victims of sexual assault during their time as an RA.
“A lot of this frustration comes out of sitting and being the person holding the hands,” they said, reflecting on being a resource for people who have experienced sexual assault.
As a graduating senior, Vallance hopes the change they have made from “[shaking] enough hands and [smiling] at enough faces” will continue once they graduate. Vallance recognizes a lack of accessibility for students affected by sexual assault on campus and hopes to return to UCCS as a staff member and make meaningful adjustments.
“There’s so much broken here,” they said. “[There are] no victim advocates on campus …While I’m hearing that people are saying behind closed doors that that’s something that they want, when I specifically ask people, ‘Can I be a victim advocate?’… the answer is ‘Not right now, that’s not possible.’”
“I want blue light phones back,” Vallance said, noting that victims of assault who lose their phones have no way to enter dorms or connect with police. Vallance also wants more accessible confidential resources. The Wellness Center is the only confidential resource on campus and is not open after 5 p.m. or on weekends, Vallance said.
When the Slut Walk on campus was announced this year, some UCCS students took to Snapchat expressing confusion about the purpose of the Slut Walk. Several users expressed discontent with the use of the word “slut.” Others found it counterintuitive that victims would dress “like sluts” to protest sexual assault.
To this, Vallance said, “People are misinformed. If I’m honest, I don’t think that a lot of people want to be informed on what a slut walk is, and what it’s for and who it’s for, because they are benefiting from the system.”
In response to a user’s post asserting that people who “dress like sluts” deserve to be treated as such, Vallance said, “What does being treated like a slut mean … So you’re agreeing that people are getting violence for dressing how they feel comfortable?”
Feminist Club Officer Alissa Beehler (she/her) viewed the negative posts as a form of awareness. “The most important thing is that people are at least talking about it… At least we know that it’s circulating around the UCCS population, and that people are becoming more aware of it even if it’s in a negative way. I think that [growth can still come] from that,” she said.
Beehler disagrees with students who believe using the term “slut” is counterproductive, because the walk is supposed to reclaim the term. “I think the Slut Walk is a purposefully provocative term. The term slut, or any kind of derogatory term towards women or sexuality is going to turn heads, whether that be negative or positive,” Beehler said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Feminist Club President Ella Barry is a reporter for the Scribe.
The Slut Walk in downtown Colorado Springs on April 13. Photo by Lillian Davis.
(NOTE: This article was updated as of 4/16/24)