Twitch Streamer Kaceytron is organizing a charity stream event to coincide with the annual World Day Against Trafficking in Person International Day, as recognized by the United Nations. In the vein of the transnational SlutWalk movement, Kaceytron will be hosting Twitch's first #SlutStreamDay. The event's intended to be a rallying cry for Twitch streamers to show solidarity in the face of online sexual harassment on the platform. Viewers can watch the livestreams tomorrow, July 30.
Kaceytron, whose real name is Kacey Kaviness, is encouraging "any and all" streamers to join in on the event in opposition to the harassment that women face on Twitch regardless of how they look or dress. As Kaviness describes, regardless of how they look or dress you're a target for harassment, "If you're a female on this website."
The now global SlutWalk movement began in 2011 in protest of a Toronto, Ontario police statement attributing sexual assault to the way a woman dressed. Women protested the victim-blaming by marching dressed in liberally revealing and sexy clothing, opposing the idea that women are somehow deserving of the violence they face and that women's autonomy must suffer for it. This livestreaming version will be an online extension of the movement.
Kaviness and Twitch streamer IzzyBear offered the following post on social media, encouraging participation from streamers and support in the form of charitable donations from viewers:
"The idea of #SlutStreamDay is to empower women to be themselves. We want any and all streamers who stand against the constant harassment and slut-shaming of women to stream dressed in ways that make them feel comfortable and raise money for a good cause."
The livestreams will be supporting the Freedom 4/24 charity, which assists survivors of sexual exploitation and human trafficking. A donation of $24 can provide a month of food for a survivor in need.
Coopting language and imagery typically used by harassers or in sexist messaging, then turning it into messages of empowerment is something Kaviness is well-acquainted with. Her success and popularity have grown not despite but in hand with such efforts. Organizing the #SlutStreamDay is the natural progression of Kaviness' aims. Through these streams, Kaviness hopes to extend that message of strength and solidarity to women across the Twitch platform and to viewers as well.
Viewers can tune into the event on either Kaceytron or IzzyBear's Twitch channels, along with any number of other streams starting July 30.