The officer later apologized, but a global movement, nourished by posts on Facebook and Twitter, was born.
The first SlutWalkers stepped off in Toronto in early April. Since then, marchers have taken up the cause in Seattle, Boston, Chicago, and other cities, as well as in Argentina, England, Australia, and Sweden.
Much of the media coverage has focused on the alluring outfits some SlutWalkers wear, but many participants dress more demurely. At the Toronto SlutWalk, one woman carried a sign that read, "I was 14 and raped in a stairwell wearing snowshoes and layers. Did I deserve it, too?"
Many who have participated are young women, but mothers have also marched with their adult daughters in some cities.
Philadelphia's SlutWalk begins at 11 a.m. Saturday at 11th and Pine Streets. Marchers will head from there to City Hall.
Speakers at the event will include Qui Alexander, a transgender man and an educator at Philadelphia's Mazzoni Center, which provides health-care and other services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people; Stephanie Gilmore, an assistant professor of women's and gender studies at Dickinson College; Deepa Kumar, associate professor of media studies and Middle East studies at Rutgers University; State Sen. Daylin Leach (D., Montgomery); and Aishah Shahidah Simmons, a survivor of rape and incest who made the movie NO! The Rape Documentary.
Altman, who lives in West Philadelphia and is studying sociology and women's studies at Cornell College in Iowa, already had been working to raise awareness about sexual assault on campus when she heard about SlutWalk.
She has turned the local walk into a summer project, helping negotiate for required city permits, organize, and raise money for the event.
