This post is part of our special coverage SlutWalks 2011/12 [1].
On May 26 and 27, 2012, a number of cities around Brazil were the scene of the second round of protests known as SlutWalks [2].
Calling for women's liberty and the right of women to dress as they want without being the victims of violence or moralism, thousands of women, as well as heterosexual men, gays, transvestites and even members of groups such as bikers, skaters, skinheads, punks and anarchists took to the streets in Brasilia, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Florianópolis, Fortaleza and Belém – amongst other cities – to protest against homophobia and in defence of feminism, or rather, in defence of equality.
Manu Baren, from the blog Jezebel, commented [3] [pt] on what he saw while covering the Walk:
[…] no evento encontrei uma proposta sensata, séria e com objetivos claros alertar e protestar contra a violência contra as mulheres. De todo tipo: desde física até sexual e moral. Fui tocada pela coragem de jovens, mães e senhoras que expuseram para uma multidão as suas histórias sobre abusos que, em alguns casos, levaram à morte.
The SlutWalk originated in Canada, when on April 3rd 2011 thousands of women protested in Toronto against the declarations made by police officer Michael Sanguinetti following a series of cases of sexual abuse in the city, stating that women should avoid dressing like sluts in order to avoid becoming victims of rape.
Since then, similar protests have taken place around the world with women dressed in short skirts or even half-naked and affirming that this does not mean that they would like to or give their permission to be raped or abused.
Following the example of the previous year [5], Global Voices has selected a series of photos from protests in various Brazilian cities. More than three thousand protestors attended the event in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, more than a thousand in São Paulo, and hundreds in each of the other cities.
In São Paulo the Walk covered 3 kilometres, passing along the famous Rua Augusta, a meeting point for alternative groups and the location of various brothels and artistic venues.
Two videos of the protest in São Paulo: the first by Manu Barem and Thiago Guimarães contains sections of the speeches made at the beginning of the Walk and scenes of the Walk itself, and the second contains scenes of the Walk and the slogans shouted by the protestors:
In Rio de Janeiro, the protest took place in Copacabana with hundreds of people attending.
Video from YouTube user vecosi [12] of the Walk in Rio de Janeiro:
The streets of Belo Horizonte were also taken over by protestors on 26 May.
Youtube user raquelpinheirocintra [16] recorded this video during the Walk in Belo Horizonte:
In Brasília the Walk passed through the very centre of Brazilian power.
More photos from the SlutWalk in Brasilia on the Walk's official profile [20] on Facebook. YouTube user kyaya1 [21] recorded a series of videos of the Walk: this is part 4 [22].
A small but lively protest also took place in Belém on May 27.
More photos from the SlutWalk in Belém on the official profile [25] on Facebook and a video [26] from Youtube user Zemafarias [27].
Protests also took place in Fortaleza, São Luis and Vitória.
Youtube user naainai [31] recorded a short video [32] of the Walk in Vitória.
In Recife, more than 1,100 people came out into the streets to protest. Photos of the Walk can be found [33] [pt] on the blog Literatura clandestina (Clandestine literature) and on the Walk's Facebook group [34]. Blogger Lúcio Mustafá [35] recorded a video of the Walk in Recife. More photos on the Flickr [36] account of Leo Cisneiros.
The Walk also took place in Florianópolis.
Finally, on Sunday 27 the SlutWalk took over Porto Alegre.
Youtube users ElbaOliveira1 [43] and mayluka09 [44] recorded videos of manifesto readings in São José dos Campos in the São Paulo province, as did lalgarra [45] in Sorocaba from where photos can be viewed [46] on the Walk's Facebook group. The Foque Collective [47] recorded a video [48] of the Walk in Natal and avmandrade [49] recorded the Walk [50] in Salvador.
This post is part of our special coverage SlutWalks 2011/12 [1].