First There Was Racial Profiling Now There’s “Hairy Legs” Profiling
A group of seven Canadian protesters are suing the Toronto police department. They’re claiming they were profiled, arrested and unfairly detained due to their hairy legs.
A group of seven protesters from Hamilton, Ont. are suing Toronto police for $1.4 million, claiming they were unfairly profiled, arrested and mistreated during the G20 summit.
Lawyer Davin Charney served the Toronto Police Service with a 44-page statement of claim on Wednesday, outlining a litany of allegations against the police force.The lawsuit claims his clients were arrested without reason, held for more than 24 hours in a detention centre and, in some cases, sexually assaulted, before they were released without charges.
Charney said Toronto police unfairly profiled his clients, and arrested them because they appeared to be protesters based on their clothing and physical features, which included women with hairy legs.“They followed a profile that was created by senior Toronto Police Service officers in targeting these seven individuals,” Charney told reporters outside Toronto police headquarters Wednesday.
“That profile included markers such as people who have backpacks, lawyers’ numbers on their arms, people with Quebec licence plates, people speaking French, people wearing black clothing.
“My clients fit into that profile, to some extent. And that is why they were arrested, and that is why many people were arrested during the G20.”
The group of seven claims they were wrongfully arrested on June 27, 2010, one day after protesters rampaged in downtown Toronto as world leaders gathered for a summit.
Hey, if the Birkenstock fits…
But seriously, from what I understand, these G20 and G3 conferences attract a violent bunch of protesters. So I just don’t understand what these women were thinking when they decided to protest alongside a bunch of violent hoodlums. Were the police supposed to ignore all the violent protesters and focus instead on some clean shaved businessman carrying a briefcase?
As for the hairy legs, conservative women (and even average moderate leaning women) generally don’t let themselves go. I think that young women who insist on having legs (and other body parts) do it to make a rebellious statement. It’s like they’re saying “Screw the norms of society, and screw the patriarchy.” No wonder they decided to protest alongside anarchists.
