Around 50 students came out Thursday to walk in a slut walk against sexual assault and harassment.

Sophomore human services major Emery Johnson took it upon herself to start the slut walk after being exposed to rape culture while in college and with April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month, she said. She and EIU’s branch of the Young Democratic Socialists of America organized the event.

Johnson started an Instagram page to promote the event and spread information about what a slut walk is.

The slut walk is a stand up again rape culture and how people are perceived for what they wear. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 50% of women and one in three men in the U.S. have experienced sexual violence involving physical contact at some point in their lives.

The event stands to take the term “slut” and make it an empowering word rather than an insult.

Before the event, students came in with signs protesting rape culture, reading things like “Sluts are the future” and “Abolish rape culture.”

Maddy Allen, a junior therapeutic recreation major, went to the walk to recognize those that have been abused or sexually assaulted.

“I think it’s important to show that my clothes and the way I dress are not for you,” Allen said.

The walk helps show that people are allowed to dress how they want, said Allen.

Students gave speeches to the crowd including Jade Maxwell, a junior and secondary early English education major, before the crowd walked a lap around Eastern’s campus chanting phrases like, “However we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no.”

Maxwell said Johnson asked them to speak at the slut walk because she knew Maxwell was a feminist and had a minor in women and gender studies.

“I’m comfortable with public speaking, but I’m not always comfortable sharing my own personal experiences and my opinions just because I don’t want to be judged,” Maxwell said. “But at the same time, I’ve had my own experiences, and they’re valid experiences.”

Maxwell said she knew that what she had to say would help people in the audience know that they are heard and understood.

Following the speech, Maxwell said someone came up to her and told her how the speech allowed them to feel heard and seen.

Maxwell said that women should not be harassed or assaulted because of the clothes they wear.

“Your clothes don’t define your sexuality; they don’t define your sexual preference,” she said. “They can be those things, but that’s not an invitation to be touched inappropriately or be used to somebody else’s advantage.”

For Maxwell, the slut walk’s purpose is to advocate for women to not be called names or judged because of their apparel.

“I’m really happy we got to do it,: Maxwell said. “I hope that we keep doing stuff like this.”

Cam’ron Hardy can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].