Slutwalking in the Shadow of the Law

By Deborah Tuerkheimer. Full text here.

This Article examines the convergence of two seemingly contradictory developments. One is the widespread rape of women by acquaintances, dates, and intimates, mostly without legal recourse. The other is the emergence of a generation of women who embrace a pro-sex orientation and define their sexualities accordingly. To date, legal theorists have failed to reconcile this move toward sex positivity with the ubiquity of non-stranger rape. SlutWalk—the global grassroots initiative that protests rape by embracing sex—provides a vehicle for first exploring tensions that arise when sexual agency is asserted against a backdrop of pervasive sexual violation. On analysis, sexual agency must be reconceived, which in turn exposes new perspectives on rape law and informs the next phase of reform.