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Billed as an anti-rape march, the first SlutWalk took place in Toronto 2011 as a response to a Toronto policeman telling a group of law students that in order to avoid being raped "women should avoid dressing like sluts.  Before the first march took place, the movement went viral and by the end of 2011 SlutWalks took place in over 200 cities and 40 nations around the world. 
Not only did SlutWalk have a global reach, it also generated headlines in media outlets around the world.  So why were SlutWalks reported so widely in the mainstream media? And how helpful was the reporting in bringing feminism and feminist issues, in particular the notion of rape culture and victim blaming back into the public’s consciousness? Jane Garvey speaks to the author of SlutWalk: Feminism, Activism and Media, Dr. Kaitlynn Mendes, lecturer in Media and Communication. 

Emma Banks is a Music Agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) which represents some of the world’s leading musicians, including Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Florence and the Machine and many others. She has won numerous industry awards including  the U.K.’s Woman of the Year Awards for the Music Industry, twice, the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) Second Least Offensive Agent Award six times, and Pollstar’s International Agent of the Year Award three times. She is also chair of Nordoff Robbins is a music therapy charity, dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable children and adults, which is approaching its 40th anniversary.

41 year old Royal Navy Reservist Michelle Ping has led a remarkable double career for the past 20 years as a military reservist and a specialist paramedic. She was on patrol as a volunteer combat paramedic with the Reservists in Helmand Province Afghanistan in 2011 when she saved the life of a colleague who had been shot in the head.  She jumped on the roof of the building where the soldier lay injured to shield him and give him first aid whilst still under fire. For her bravery she was awarded a Mention in Dispatches in 2012 and the Queen’s Volunteer Reserve Medal. 
On Tuesday she will be at another ceremony to receive an award for ‘Information Team of the Year’ for her civilian role in training the Armed Forces and health workers deployed in Sierra Leone to fight the Ebola virus. She joins Jane to talk about what it’s like to be a woman in the Royal Navy Reservist, how she juggles her two careers in the military and her civilian role and her future ambitions as an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve Service.