Edinburgh SlutWalk 2011

At 2pm on Saturday 18th June, the SlutWalk movement arrived in Edinburgh to raise awareness of attitudes to rape and sexual assault.

A group of around 200 people marched from West Parliament Square down the Royal Mile to the Scottish Parliament buildings at Holyrood. The aim of the march was to raise awareness of attitudes to rape and sexual assault, specifically that what a person wears does not give a rapist an excuse to attack them.

Protestors began gathering outside St Giles Cathederal around 1:30pm and the march began at 2pm. Many of the participants were wearing stockings, suspenders, corsets and mini-skirts and chanted "However we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no." People held placards with messages such as "It's a skirt, not permission", "My dress was not a yes" and "No means no whatever you're wearing". Many of the placards called for the sacking of Kenneth Clarke after his recent comments on the seriousness of rape.

There was a fairly large police presence with police motorcycles clearing the road in front of the march but the protest was good natured and passed peacefully.

There were some short talks from support groups, the SlutWalk organisers and rape survivors outside the Scottish Parliament building.