Hundreds rally in Northampton calling attention to violence against women
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NORTHAMPTON - About 250 chanting, sign-holding participants in a Stomp & Holler rally marched through downtown Northampton Saturday to challenge blame-the-victim attitudes toward rape and domestic violence.
While shoppers watched and passing motorists honked their horns in support, the marchers made their way along Main Street from Lampron Park to the steps of City Hall.
Northampton police provided escorts as marchers crossed heavily trafficked streets and walked amid throngs of pedestrians in the citys main shopping district under sunny skies.
The marchers paused several times along the route to chant slogans, including, "Blame the system, not the victim," "This is what a feminist looks like," and "However I dress, wherever I go, yes means yes, no means no."
Participants carried a banner with the Stomp & Holler slogan, "Because we've had enough."
The marchers reached City Hall about 1 p.m. for a rally. They later gathered at Pleasant Street to participate in the filming of a documentary by rape survivor and therapist Andrea Bredbeck, then went on to Masonic Street for a self-defense workshop by feminist Lynn Wanamaker and speeches by other rape survivors.
One organizer, Hampshire College student Samantha Valente, said the event was held to protest a repressive rape culture that holds victims more responsible for their attacks than their attackers and where women are expected to restrict their movements and style of dress in order to avoid being attacked.
"I'm just fed up with being told that I can't do things," Valente said. "It's your safety versus your independence. Why should I have to choose?"
Tachiri Taitt of Amherst, a Holyoke Community College student, said, "We live in a very hyper-sexualized society. That needs to stop, as well."
Meghan Lemay, a graduate student and rape counselor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, said the march was about "having women stand up and say, 'We love sex and are not going to be judged for it.'
"People of all genders should not be afraid to talk about healthy sex and healthy relationships," she added.
"The women's rights movement is important," said Matthew Constanti, a graduate of UMass-Amherst. "It's about time people started fighting back."
Marco Yeung, a UMass student, attended the event to support his fiancé Dyana Collins.
"Everyone should win over someone else through respect and not forcefully impose their will on others," Yeung said, adding that the crime of rape crosses gender lines.
Collins, a member of Sigma Chi Iota, which she described as a social justice sorority, carried a sign saying, "No equals yes? That's even 'all Greek' to the Greeks."
Taylor Kall, a Hampshire College student, marched wearing a short-sleeved blouse and tiny black skirt - the same outfit she wore when she was sexually assaulted earlier this year.
"I wanted to reclaim this outfit," Kall said. "No, it was not my fault." She added, "Being a survivor is really isolating."
Jenn Bealer of Easthampton said she joined the march "because I'm tired of our culture and society blaming victims of sexual assault for the violence perpetrated against them."
Onlookers said they supported the marchers.
"I think it's great," said Sigrid Schmalzer of Northampton. "One of the things that excites me is how international it is. I'm glad to see it here and have solidarity with the international effort."
Mike Berlin of Montclair, N.J., who was in the area visiting his daughter, a student at Mount Holyoke College, said "I admire the spirit and joyfulness of the demonstrators, because they're fighting for their cause without anger and condemnation."
He added, "It's more like they have the joy of delivering their message, rather than condemning the people who are the objects of their message."
The Slingerland family of New Palz, N.Y., attended the event to support their daughter Ann, a student at Smith.
"It's an important cause. Awareness needs to be raised," said her mother Rae Slingerland.
Stomp & Holler is an outgrowth of the January Slut Walk held in Toronto, Canada, after a police officer advised college students attending a safety information workshop to avoid "dressing like sluts" to prevent sexual attacks.
The movement has blazed across the globe, with women in many countries holding similar events.
Organizers here decided to change the name from Slut Walk to Stomp & Holler after organizations of African-American women objected to the original name, saying it had different connotations for women of color, due to the history of slavery and racism, according to organizer Georgia Gerike, a Hampshire College student.
"Some of us were appalled by the word slut," said organizer Madeline Burrows, another Hampshire College student. Saturday's event "is less about the name and more about combating sexism and blaming the victim," she said.
Stomp & Holler will hold an organizing meeting from 3 to 5 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Media Education Foundation on Masonic Street. For information about the group, email stompandholler@gmail.com.
